Tommy Fleetwood fired a course record-par 62 to lead the first round at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, the inaugural DP World Tour Play-Offs event.
Already a two-time winner of the tournament after back-to-back wins in 2017 and 2018, Fleetwood carded eight birdies and an eagle in his 10-under par on a low-scoring day at Yas Links to gain one stroke. ahead of former Ryder Cup teammate Thorbjørn Olesen and American Johannes Veerman.
The 33-year-old from Southport was four after three holes as he started birdie, eagle, birdie, and gained six more as he signed off on his bogey-free round, rolling in a final birdie at the finish. direct track.
Fleetwood also has one eye on a second Race to Dubai title as he started the week fifth in the season-long standings. A good performance in Abu Dhabi will give him an outside chance of catching current leader Rory McIlroy at the DP World Tour Championship next week.
Tyrrell Hatton shares a four-under-eight with Laurie Canter, Paul Waring and Francesco Laporta.
MCILROY AT THE LEVELS
McIlroy fired a five-under 67 to settle for 18th. The Northern Irishman will win the Race to Dubai for a sixth time if he can finish more than 2,000 ranking points ahead of his nearest competitor, South Africa’s Thriston Lawrence, after the event. Lawrence also shot a 67 to keep the pressure on his opponent.
Speaking after his strong start, Fleetwood said: “If you shoot 62 everything will be perfect, so I’m glad I got off to a good start.
“I didn’t feel like I burned it quickly, but I learned the vegetables well. Good speed control and hit a lot of good putts and started to catch on. I worked until the last hole, I just hit perfect putts.”
He added: “The conditions are obviously very good for scoring, but the quality of golf today was amazing.”
For all the points from the first round, click here.
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