Lee Westwood insists that there is still a long way to go after taking an early advantage in the Race to Dubai in the first round of the Dubai World Championship.

The 36-year-old carded an opening, six-under-par 66 to lie one shot off the lead and he is now the 10/3 favourite in the tournament outright betting.

Money list leader Rory McIlroy (13/2 to win) lies two shots adrift of Westwood after a first-round 68 and if the tournament was to end as it stands, it would be the latter who would finish as Europe’s best.

However, Westwood is not looking too far ahead and insists that there will be plenty of twists and turns to come.

“It’s all about jockeying for position over these first three rounds and then going for the kill on Sunday,” Westwood said.

“There’s a lot of water still to go under the bridge until Sunday and the idea is to win this tournament so that everything else falls into place.”

Robert Allenby (11/1) carded a fine 65 to hold the first-round lead at -7, with Camilo Villegas (11/1) and Chris Wood (20/1) alongside Westwood in a share of second, while Padraig Harrington (10/1) is in a group two shots further back after an opening 68.

Meanwhile, McIlory is looking forward to not being in the same pairing as Westwood on the second day.

“It will be nice not to play with him [on Friday], just to concentrate fully on my own score and on my own game,” the 20-year-old said.

“I think it will be good for both of us not to play together. It almost felt like a last group final round sort of thing. We’re the top two in the Race to Dubai and it’s hard to get away from that.”

McIlory will be partnering Sweden’s Johan Edfors on Friday and the Northern Ireland youngster is the 4/9 favourite in the 2 ball betting, with his opponent available at 9/4 and the tie at 8/1.