Ryder Cup stars Tommy Fleetwood and Shane Lowry, both past champions of this event, are part of a five-way tie for the lead at 8-under following the opening round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
New Zealand’s Kazuma Kobori made an eagle at the par-5 11th and closed with a bogey-free 64 while England’s Fleetwood made eight birdies and also stayed bogey-free.
“I played well,” said Fleetwood. “I was very, very good off the tee and I think I made some good decisions off the tee.
“I felt very comfortable with the shots that I chose and I hit. I putted well. I think I made a big par save on the 12th and followed that with a birdie, which was I think a crucial part of the round if it’s going to be a very, very good round.
“It’s Thursday. You can obviously play your way out of it. You can’t win it, but eight under is a really nice way to start.”
Ireland’s Lowry made one bogey at the par-4 12th for his share of the lead while France’s Adrien Saddier made his one bogey at the par-3 17th.
“I just like the place,” said Lowry. “The condition of it is amazing, and I just see my way around here pretty well. Hopefully I can put four rounds together this week.”
Finally South African Richard Sterne fired eagles at the par-5s 7th and 18th and made two bogeys to join the lead.
Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy who leads the Race to Dubai rankings made five birdies and one bogey for a 69 and lies in T27 at 4-under.
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| Pos. | Player | To Par | R1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | KOBORI, Kazuma | -8 | 64 |
| | FLEETWOOD, Tommy | -8 | 64 |
| | LOWRY, Shane | -8 | 64 |
| | STERNE, Richard | -8 | 64 |
| | SADDIER, Adrien | -8 | 64 |
| 6 | SULLIVAN, Andy | -7 | 65 |
| | VON DELLINGSHAUSEN, Nicolai | -7 | 65 |
| | HØJGAARD, Nicolai | -7 | 65 |
| | NOREN, Alex | -7 | 65 |
| | NAKAJIMA, Keita | -7 | 65 |
| KIM, Michael | -7 | 65 | |
| | ELVIRA, Nacho | -7 | 65 |
| 13 | HATTON, Tyrrell | -6 | 66 |
| | HILLIER, Daniel | -6 | 66 |
| | SMYLIE, Elvis | -6 | 66 |
| | RAI, Aaron | -6 | 66 |
| | MANSELL, Richard | -6 | 66 |
| | ARMITAGE, Marcus | -6 | 66 |
| | FITZPATRICK, Alex | -6 | 66 |
| 20 | PENGE, Marco | -5 | 67 |
| | CHACARRA, Eugenio | -5 | 67 |
| | HILL, Calum | -5 | 67 |
| | COUSSAUD, Ugo | -5 | 67 |
| | REITAN, Kristoffer | -5 | 67 |
| | LINDELL, Oliver | -5 | 67 |
| FITZPATRICK, Matt | -5 | 67 | |
| 27 | MCILROY, Rory | -4 | 68 |
| | SMITH, Jordan | -4 | 68 |
| | SCHAPER, Jayden | -4 | 68 |
| | LINDBERG, Mikael | -4 | 68 |
| | LAWRENCE, Thriston | -4 | 68 |
| | LUITEN, Joost | -4 | 68 |
| | NEERGAARD-PETERSEN, Rasmus | -4 | 68 |
| | ÅBERG, Ludvig | -4 | 68 |
| | PAVAN, Andrea | -4 | 68 |
| 36 | CANTER, Laurie | -3 | 69 |
| | PARRY, John | -3 | 69 |
| | LI, Haotong | -3 | 69 |
| | AYORA, Angel | -3 | 69 |
| | OLESEN, Jacob Skov | -3 | 69 |
| | DEL REY, Alejandro | -3 | 69 |
| | CABRERA BELLO, Rafa | -3 | 69 |
| | MACINTYRE, Robert | -3 | 69 |
| | BROWN, Daniel | -3 | 69 |
| | GIRRBACH, Joel | -3 | 69 |
| | ELVIRA, Manuel | -3 | 69 |
| | DEAN, Joe | -3 | 69 |
| 48 | FORREST, Grant | -2 | 70 |
| | LANGASQUE, Romain | -2 | 70 |
| | COUVRA, Martin | -2 | 70 |
| SYME, Connor | -2 | 70 | |
| | LAPORTA, Francesco | -2 | 70 |
| 53 | CAMPILLO, Jorge | -1 | 71 |
| | CLEMENTS, Todd | -1 | 71 |
| | REED, Patrick | -1 | 71 |
| | KRUYSWIJK, Jacques | -1 | 71 |
| | VEERMAN, Johannes | -1 | 71 |
| | GERARD, Ryan | -1 | 71 |
| 59 | LAGERGREN, Joakim | Par | 72 |
| | FERGUSON, Ewen | Par | 72 |
| | HØJGAARD, Rasmus | Par | 72 |
| | VAN DRIEL, Darius | Par | 72 |
| | LEE, Junghwan | Par | 72 |
| | SCHNEIDER, Marcel | Par | 72 |
| | SCHMIDT, Ben | Par | 72 |
| 66 | NORRIS, Shaun | +1 | 73 |
| | JORDAN, Matthew | +1 | 73 |
| 68 | ROBINSON THOMPSON, Brandon | +2 | 74 |
| | NAIDOO, Dylan | +2 | 74 |
| 70 | MCKIBBIN, Tom | +3 | 75 |
| | KO, Jeong weon | +3 | 75 |
| 72 | JOHNSTON, Ryggs | +5 | 77 |
