by Tommy Fleetwood carded a course-record 62 to take a one-shot lead after the first round of the HSBC Abu Dhabi Championship.
Fleetwood used a new putter to great effect as he made an eagle and eight birdies on a low-scoring day that saw 63 of the 70 players break par at Yas Links.
Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen and American Johannes Veerman were Fleetwood’s closest challengers at nine under par, with the English trio of Paul Waring, Laurie Canter and Tyrrell Hatton all shooting eight under par.
Scotsman Robert MacIntyre was another shot behind after a 64, while Rory McIlroy had a 67.
Fleetwood, who won this event in 2017 and 2018 at a different venue, was four under par for his first three holes and followed a birdie at the seventh with five more on the back nine.
“I got off to a good start (but) I didn’t feel like I swung it perfectly from the start and I actually felt like I started to play better as the round went on was getting to the back nine,” Fleetwood, who got some putting tips from former players Ken Brown and David Howell during a practice round, said.
“Mis incredible. I felt like I read the greens so well. Nice pace control, made a lot of good putts and started to make them.
“When you shoot a 62, obviously everything will go very, very well. I’m just happy to have a good start.
“I still feel like I’m a good putter. This is not always seen. But definitely in the second half of this year, I didn’t putt as well or convert as many putts as we would have liked.
“We were working on that and I ran into Ken and Howler on the course and we were talking about a few things.
“They’re two of the best putters I’ve ever met and any time you talk to those guys, you’re always going to take something away.”
McIlroy leads Thriston Lawrence by 1,572.39 points in the Race to Dubai, with Rasmus Hojgaard a further 347.89 points behind, meaning a win or second place would seal a sixth title on the money list before the next week’s end-of-season event in Dubai.
The top three were placed in the same group in the first two rounds and while Lawrence matched McIlroy’s score, Hojgaard did better with a 66.
“Honestly, it’s nice to be paired with Thriston and Rasmus because you can kind of keep an eye on what they’re doing,” McIlroy said.
“It’s been a very good year, very, very consistent. I started well with the victory in Dubai and also let a few slip away. But I’ve had a lot of consistency, and that’s why I’m where I am.
“And I wanted to come here to the Middle East these two weeks and finish the season the way I thought it deserves to be finished.”
