European Tommy Fleetwood and Irish Shane Lowry are tied for the lead after 54 holes at the Abu Dhabi Championship. Both golfers put on a show, with each shooting phenomenal 8-under 64 opening round performances. Adrien Saddier, Kazuma Kobori, and Richard Sterne are tied with the leaders after Thursday’s round. That really makes for a fun tournament to come!
Fleetwood and Lowry, both superstar Ryder Cup heroes, exhibited their jaw-dropping brilliance on the course. In the meantime, Saddier of France set a lightning pace, circling nine birdies on his first 16 holes to make a strong statement. His round was undercut just a bit by a dropped shot on the 17th hole.
Kazuma Kobori of New Zealand was perfect, with his round featuring one eagle and six birdies. Richard Sterne, who is the only player in the field to have participated in the inaugural event in 2006, recorded two eagles and two bogeys during his round.
Ludvig Åberg made a memorable mark by scoring a hole-in-one on the par-three eighth hole, with his tee shot landing just a couple of feet from the pin.
Chasing the leaders, seven players are only one shot back, all of them tied at 7-under 65. Rounding out this elite group are Alex Noren, Andy Sullivan, Nicolai von Dellingshausen, Nicolai Højgaard, Keita Nakajima, Michael Kim and Nacho Elvira. On the other hand, Rory McIlroy opened his first round at four shots off the lead.
“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,” commented Tommy Fleetwood after his round.
As the tournament continues and the teams get fewer, the competition is even harder. Players are chomping at the bit to continue off of their hot starts. They will be looking to capture that prized title at this most prestigious of events in Abu Dhabi.
Leave a Reply