Irishman tears up favourite course on day 1 of his return

RORY IS FABBY DHABI

RORY McILROY kept his cool for a comeback 69 in Abu Dhabi as one of his teenage fans left playing partners Dustin Johnson and Tommy Fleetwood red-faced.

The Northern Irishman finished three under in his first competitive round in more than 100 days after three birdies in his final seven holes.

But it was schoolboy Oscar Murphy who stole the limelight at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship after the 13-year-old put his tee shot to the 177-yard par-three 15th 25 feet from the pin in the Beat the Pro challenge.

Murphy, a six-handicapper from Northern Ireland, went closer than onlooking world No.1 Johnson as well as European No.1 Fleetwood but couldn’t get one over his idol McIlroy.

The 28-year-old missed his birdie chance then three-putted the par-five 18th as he carded 11 straight pars after teeing off at the 10th.

But McIlroy has a remarkable record in Abu Dhabi with four second-placed finishes, two thirds and a fifth in his last eight starts.

And he finally got into red figures by holing from 12 feet on the third before following that with a tap-in birdie on the par-three seventh and another gain at the par-five eighth.

McIlroy, who cut last season short in October due to a rib injury and revealed last week he has a heartbeat irregularity, said: “I was excited to get going.

“The last couple of months have been nice in terms of being able to concentrate on things I needed to work on in my game and health-wise.

“I feel like I’m nearly the most prepared for a season I’ve ever been.

“But it was nice to get back out there and it was a great pairing to start off with. Tommy played very well and I was just trying to hang on to his coattails for most of the round so I’m really pleased. “I can’t really complain about a bogey-free 69. I started off with 11 pars and it could’ve been a lot better so I tried to stay as patient as possible. “When it’s the first day back it’s easier to stay patient so I was just trying to hit a good shot every time. “I was proud of myself the way I hung in there.” Despite being upstaged by a kid, defending champ Fleetwood went on to card a 66 to lead on six under alongside Japan’s Hideto Tanihara. The Englishman carded six birdies and hit all 18 greens in regulation while Johnson mixed four birdies with four bogeys in an inconsistent display. Fleetwood said: “It was stress-free. I played really well from start to finish and did what you need to do round this course, which is drive it well. “You can’t be too greedy a lot of the time and my pace putting was really good.” Richie Ramsay and Stephen Gallacher both shared the lead early on before the Scots pair finished the day in a nine-man group on four under. LEADERBOARD (Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72) 66 – T Fleetwood, H Tanihara (Jpn). 67 – R Fisher, F Zanotti (Par), S Brazel (Aus), B Wiesberger (Aut), T Pieters (Bel). 68 – A Johnston, R RAMSAY, M Ilonen (Fin), C Pigem (Spa), O Fisher, R Sterne (Rsa), S GALLACHER, P Dunne, M Fitzpatrick. Selected others 69 – R McIlroy. 70 – H Stenson (Swe), G McDowell. 71 – J Rose. 72 – D Johnson (USA), D DRYSDALE. 73 – M WARREN. 74 – T Buchanan, P LAWRIE. S JAMIESON.