ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Fine, but unimaginative. That was Rory McIlroy’s view of his new swing, which he tried out for the first time competitively in shooting 5-under 67 in the first round of the Abu Dhabi Championship.
It left the No. 3-ranked McIlroy five shots off the lead held by Ryder Cup teammate Tommy Fleetwood in the first event of the European tour playoffs.
Seeking a victory that can clinch a sixth year-long Race to Dubai title, McIlroy returned to competitive action after a month away – most of which he spent shut away in a studio hitting balls against a screen in search of a more robust swing that can hold up in pressure-filled moments.
McIlroy didn’t make too many mistakes in his first round, save for pushing his tee shot on the par-3 17th and failing to get up and down for par. That was his only bogey, while he made six birdies – including a tap-in at the last.
“It felt OK,” said McIlroy, looking rather unimpressed. “I’ve gotten comfortable doing this little rehearsal before I take the club back. It felt fine. I probably wasn´t as imaginative out there – I was hitting very straight shots.
“I hit a couple where I didn´t see the picture of what I was trying to do with the ball flight because I was thinking a little too much about what I was doing with the swing,” McIlroy added according to AP.
McIlroy said the lack of wind and the generous size of the fairways at Yas Links made his task easier and allowed him to focus on his modified swing.
“I am quite fortunate that it´s a nice week to come back,” he said.
Fleetwood – the next highest-ranked player in the reduced 70-man field at No. 10 – was more in the zone, making eight birdies to go with an eagle at the par-5 second hole in a bogey-free round of 10-under 62.
The Englishman took the solo lead for the first time by rolling in a birdie putt from 10 feet at No. 18.
Fleetwood was a stroke clear of Thorbjorn Olesen of Denmark and Johannes Veerman of the United States, with Tyrrell Hatton – a LIV Golf player – in a share of fourth place after shooting 64 with Laurie Canter, Paul Waring and Francesco Laporta.
McIlroy, who was in a tie for 18th, has a huge lead in the Race to Dubai standings and can win what was formerly the Order of Merit title with an event to spare with a victory in Abu Dhabi.
That would take some suspense out of the season-ending World Tour Championship in Dubai next week.
McIlroy has finished a season as the European No. 1 five times and can tie the late Seve Ballesteros with a sixth. Colin Montgomerie has a record eight.
South Korea’s A Lim Kim, meanwhile, shot a 6-under-par 66 and holds a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Lotte Championship at Ewa Beach, Hawaii.
Five players are tied for second after carding a 5-under 67 at Hoakalei Country Club: the Philippines’ Bianca Pagdanganan, China’s Ruixin Liu, Germany’s Polly Mack, France’s Perrine Delacour and Taiwan’s Peiyun Chien.
Canada’s Savannah Grewal, Russia’s Nataliya Guseva and Japan’s Yuri Yoshida are tied for seventh at 4 under. Eleven players share 10th place at 3 under.
Kim, 29, captured the 2020 US Women’s Open at the Champions Club in Houston during her major championship debut.
She has since finished in the top 10 at majors three times, including a tie for ninth at the Chevron Championship this year, but she has yet to post another victory in any event.
Now she sits on top of a leaderboard following the first round for the first time since the 2021 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship.
Asked how that would affect her approach, she said, “Same as last week, two weeks ago. My prepare and process, everything is same, same as every weeks. I’m going to focus on speed control, putting speed control, and then wedge number game.”
Kim got off to a stellar start, recording an eagle on the par-5 first hole and adding birdies at the third and fifth holes. The rest of her round was bumpier, as she added four birdies and two bogeys.
Pagdanganan also began well, producing four birdies and two pars through the first six holes. She was 6 under par through 15 holes before closing bogey-bogey-birdie.
“The wind picked up a little bit towards the end of my round so that was quite the change,” Pagdanganan said. “Overall I’m pretty satisfied how I played. I took advantage of all the birdie putts that I had; gave myself a lot of opportunities.
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