McIlroy back in winning groove
DURING the course of 102 days away from competitive golf, the only professional Rory McIlroy played with socially was Tiger Woods — and he could hardly be considered a reasonable yardstick with which to assess the state of the Irishman’s game. McIlroy, therefore, was as intrigued as anyone to see how he would fare in the first round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship yesterday. Had he been fooling himself with how well he’d been flushing it in practice or would he be proven correct in believing he could come straight back out and think in terms of winning? In this regard, he couldn’t have hand-picked two better playing partners to measure himself against than world No 1 Dustin Johnson and Europe’s No 1 Tommy Fleetwood — and McIlroy beat the former by three shots with a bogey-free 69 while the Englishman played out of his skin to steal the show with a 66. It left McIlroy in buoyant mood, believing his pre-Masters targets of a couple of victories to be realistic. ‘My expectation coming into this week was that I could win because after such a good break I think I’m nearly the most prepared for a season that I’ve ever been,’ he said. ‘But even when you think you’re doing some good stuff in practice you never really know until you get out there and play alongside the likes of Dustin and Tommy with a card in your hand. I’m pleased, therefore, not only with how I played but how I managed myself. ‘I started with 11 pars, but didn’t lose patience and start forcing the issue, even though Tommy had got to four under by that stage. ‘I felt my swing was under control and I could hit all the shots I needed.’ A first birdie of the day at the 12th — the third on the card — was followed by a majestic five iron at the par three 7th that nestled adjacent to the flag. Another birdie at the 8th, and he was home in a useful 33 strokes. It was entirely typical of Fleetwood to extol the virtues of his playing partners — ‘I think this was probably the best threeball that I’ll play in during my life,’ he said — and then go out and beat them. In simply taking up from where he left off last year, the unassuming Scouser highlighted all his understated gifts with an accomplished display. He never missed a green in regulation and never looked like dropping a shot all day. No question about it — he belongs in this company. ‘I just had the ball under control all the way round and my lag putting was good as well, so it felt very stress-free,’ said the defending champion, who is joint leader with Japan’s Hideto Tanihara. Paul Dunne (left) lies in eighth place after a run of birdies from the 10th to the 12th. He finished on 67 with a group of nine on 67, while Graeme McDowell dropped shots on 16 and 17 to finish with a 70.