Defending champ Fleetwood sets pace to open title defence

ABU DHABI: Defending champion Tommy Fleetwood picked up from where he left off in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) capital, racing to the top of the leaderboard early in the US$3mil (RM16.5mil) Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship with a bogey-free round of 66.

The Englishman was later joined on the top of the leaderboard by Japan’s Hideto Tanihara, who also managed to keep the bogeys away from his six-birdie card.

Former world No. 1 Rory McIlroy, playing alongside Fleetwood and top-ranked Dustin Johnson, made an excellent return to competition golf with a three-birdie round of 69.

He started with 11 consecutive pars from the 10th tee but stayed patient and found some joy coming in.

American Johnson made four birdies but also an equal number of bogeys, including one on his last hole where he pushed his tee shot into the water, for an even-par 72 start.

England’s Justin Rose, the second highest ranked player in the field at No. 6, was one better at 71, while No. 9 Henrik Stenson finished on two-under 70.

The 26-year-old Fleetwood, who started his 2017 winning this tournament by a shot over Johnson, then went on to secure the European Tour’s Race to Dubai title at the end of the year.

And he showed no signs of cooling off with his round on Thursday, which featured hitting all 18 greens in regulation.

“It really was a very good day, very stressfree,” said Fleetwood, also the winner of the French Open last year.

“I had control of my ball really from the get-go. “Just sort of did what you need to do well around here to get a good score. I drove it well.

“Hitting 18 greens, that doesn’t happen very often, so nice to do it around here.

“My pace putting was really good. I didn’t put myself under any stress at all.” — AFP