Spurred on by some good-natured ribbing from his two young sons, Paul Lawrie thrust himself into early contention during the first round of the season-ending Dubai World Championship over the Earth course at the Jumeirah Golf Estates.

With most of the focus centred around Luke Donald and Rory McIlroy's duel for the European order of merit prize, Lawrie, the former Open champion, grabbed himself a chunk of the limelight with a seven-under-par 65 which left him second, a stroke behind Swedem's Peter Hanson.

Lawrie, who illuminated his round with a birdie burst which spawned seven in 10 holes from the fifth, claimed his first win in nine years earlier this season when he landed the Andalucian Open. While that triumph gave him plenty of personal satisfaction, the victory also proved to his sons, Craig and Michael, that their father could still cut it at the top level.

"My boys are now 16 and 12, and I don't want them seeing their dad as some poor player," said Lawrie, who is making his first appearance in the Dubai showpiece. "You want to be a good player for them. They gave me a bit of ribbing in the nine years I hadn't won, which is fair enough. So that drives me on. Plus, it would be nice to get back in the top 50 in the world.

"This is the first time I've played this event and it's not great when you're sitting at home and these boys are out there playing for $7.5m."

Hanson, the Ryder Cup player, charged home in 30, during a run that included four birdies in a row from the 10th, as he equalled the course record of 64 set by Lee Westwood in 2009 and Ross Fisher last year.

McIlroy, meanwhile, kept alive his outside chances of stealing the Race To Dubai title with a 66 to lurk in third place. The 22-year-old, fresh from victory in last weekend's Hong Kong Open, needs to win here and hope that current rankings leader, Donald, finishes outside the top nine.

With the Englishman, who has already landed the US PGA Tour's money list, down in joint 26th after an opening 72, McIlroy's ambitions of being crowned Europe's No.1 are still alive.

The reigning US Open champion, who is still feeling the effects of a lingering virus, lost a ball at the second and racked up a double-bogey 7. His response was robust, however, and a six-under back-nine, highlighted by a putt of 40-feet for a birdie-3 at the 16th, more than made up for that blip.

"It [the illness] has sort of taken the pressure off me," he said. "I'm not 100% and if it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen. There's nothing I can do about it. I definitely don't feel invincible, but I feel like every time I tee it up I've got a good chance of shooting a good score."

Donald, the world No.1, dropped shots at three consecutive holes from the 14th as he made a slow start to his challenge. "I felt in control and then I lost it," he conceded.

Scott Jamieson, who squeezed into this week' event at No.59 on the rankings, joined Donald on the 72 mark but the Scot was disappointed that he was put on the clock by the referee after taking a double-bogey at the first. "It's annoying," he said. "Give me a break. I'd just had a double bogey."

Richie Ramsay, 26th on the money-list, had to settle for a two-over 74.