Tommy Fleetwood tied the course record at Yas Links at 10-under-par 62 and the Englishman leads the Abu Dhabi Championship by one after the first round on Thursday in the first event of the European tour playoffs.
Johannes Veerman and Dane Thorbjorn Olesen are a shot back and share second place, one stroke clear of four players tied for third: Francesco Laporta of Italy and England’s Tyrrell Hatton, Paul Waring and Laurie Canter, who shot 64.
Fleetwood said he used a break in his schedule to get familiar with a new putter. It paid immediate dividends with 26 putts in the first round, fewest in the field. He broke into a solo lead on the final hole Thursday, carding eight birdies and an eagle.
“Putted amazing,” he said. “Felt like I read the greens so well. Beautiful pace control and hit a lot of good putts and started holing them.”
The top-ranked player in the field is tied for 18th. Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, 5 under after his opening 18, needs a top-two finish to win another Race to Dubai championship. He had six birdies and bogeyed the par-3 17th in the initial showcase of his refined swing. He’s two shots behind Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre and one back of England’s Matthew Jordan and Alex Fitzpatrick.
McIlroy said he found himself thinking about his swing too much but said he felt “OK” in the first round.
“It felt fine,” McIlroy said. “I probably wasn’t as imaginative out there or I was sort of hitting very straight shots and I hit a couple where I didn’t really see the picture of what I was trying to do with the ball flight because I was thinking too much on what I was doing with the swing.”
Barring a clinching finish this weekend, McIlroy has another chance to secure a sixth Race to Dubai title at the World Tour Championship in Dubai next week.
–Field Level Media
