Lee Westwood’s excellent start to the season continued at the Qatar Masters yesterday, when the Europe Ryder Cup player had a five-under-par first round of 67 to share the lead with Anton Haig, of South Africa.

Westwood, who has had eight top-ten finishes in his past nine events — including finishing runner-up at the HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai and the Abu Dhabi Championship last week — picked up five birdies and did not drop a shot.

The Englishman, who is leading the European Tour’s Order of Merit, appears to be reaping the benefits of a new fitness regime that has helped him to turn excess weight into muscle. He was right to be delighted with his showing in a strong field in Doha that includes his Ryder Cup team-mates Sergio García (69), Henrik Stenson (69), Luke Donald (70), David Howell (70), Colin Montgomerie (71) and Paul Casey (72).

“I usually come out [at the start of the season] a bit lethargic and the muscles are not really working,” Westwood said. “But I do a lot of gym work with the muscles on the golf swing and feel strong.

“I started off a bit iffy and missed a few greens, but I got it together. Confidence is high at the moment. You are always mindful after a long break, but in the middle of that I finished fourth at Tiger Woods’s event [the Target World Challenge] and last week I started slowly but I got it going and had a chance [to win] on Sunday.”