Isle of Wight golfer Brandon Robinson Thompson made a blistering start to the Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship, producing a record-breaking round but falling just short on day four.

The 31-year-old Islander dominated day one with a near-historic performance, setting a new course record and finishing three strokes clear of the field after the opening 18 holes.

Brandon came close to DP World Tour history, nearly becoming the second player to shoot a 59.

WATCH: Highlights from Brandon's incredible day one performance above

With eight birdies and two eagles through 17 holes, all eyes were on him as he approached the final hole.

However, a bogey on the last – his only dropped shot of the day – meant he signed for an 11-under-par 61 instead of the elusive sub-60 round.

Reflecting on his performance, Brandon said: “I think it’s my lowest round as a professional, let alone on the DP World Tour.

“It has to be up there with a Sunday to close out a HotelPlanner Tour event last year."

His record-breaking round surpassed the previous benchmark of 64, set by France’s Tom Vaillant last year.

Brandon Robinson Thompson with his record-breaking Bahrain scorecard (Image: DP World Tour)

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Brandon’s play included an eagle at the par-five third, a birdie on the fourth, and additional gains at the sixth and eighth.

His front nine was capped with a 28-foot eagle putt at the ninth.

The hot streak continued on the back nine, with four consecutive birdies from the 12th to the 15th, sparking widespread anticipation of a historic 59.

A near miss on the 16th briefly stalled his charge, but another birdie on the 17th reignited hopes.

However, a wayward approach shot from a fairway bunker at the last resulted in a bogey, leaving him just short of the milestone.

Looking back, he admitted: “After about nine holes, I started to think about it.

“Then I hit it to about four feet on ten, and I was like, 'oh'…  Unfortunately, I missed that one.

“It was just an accumulation of a lot of good decision-making and execution.

“I didn’t really picture it this morning when it was raining, and there were forecasts of super-strong winds.

“Very happy to get off to the start I did. Little bit of a sour taste in my mouth, but I holed my fair share.”

Despite his flying start, the tournament ultimately proved to be a tale of two halves for Brandon.

Over the following rounds, he was unable to keep up the momentum of day one, with challenging conditions and an increasingly competitive field saw him drop down the leaderboard.

By the conclusion of the event, he finished in a tie for eighth place, still earning a cool £41,268.

Brandon will now shift his focus to the next event on the DP World Tour calendar, the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters in Doha, set to take place from February 6-9.