Shane Lowry made the most of his special exemption into the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship at Yas Links, only getting a reprieve into the limited field as a member of Europe’s winning Ryder Cup team, by shooting an opening round eight-under-par 64 to navigate his way into a five-way share of the lead.
A past winner of the championship in 2019 when it was staged at Abu Dhabi Golf Club, Lowry continued his good late-season form, coming in on the back of a third-place finish behind Tommy Fleetwood in his last outing in India, with a round of nine birdies and a lone bogey in kind conditions which facilitated a birdie fest.
Lowry’s 64 moved him into a share of the lead alongside his Ryder Cup teammate Fleetwood, South African Richard Sterne, New Zealand’s Kazuma Kobori and Frenchman Adrien Saddier.
Rory McIlroy – aiming for a seventh career Harry Vardon Trophy for topping the order of merit – opened with a 68. Tom McKibbin, winner of the Hong Kong Open on the Asian Tour last week, struggled and signed for a three-over-par round of 75.
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The Abu Dhabi Championship is the penultimate tournament of the DP World Tour schedule which concludes with next week’s Tour Championship in Dubai, and Lowry – 112th on the Race to Dubai standings – would have been at home with his family in Florida except for getting into the field at both events due to his Ryder Cup status.
Lowry – who can claim the prize money but is unable to move up the R2D standings due to the special exemption, with the field originally confined to the leading 70 players on the order of merit – made the most of his backdoor entry, playing wonderfully tee-to-green and, apart from missing what he called a “tricky” short putt on the 12th, putting beautifully.
“I rolled the ball well on the greens, felt like I hit my irons great and gave myself a lot of chances and rolled a few putts in ... I have a great record [at Yas Links] without having a great finish here. First three days here the last few years, been in the final group on Sunday. Watched Paul Waring win last year. I remember watching Thomas Pieters win here [in 2022]. I don’t know, I just like the place. The condition of it is amazing, and I just see my way around here pretty well. Hopefully I can put four rounds together this week,” said Lowry.
McIlroy, with a new driver in his bag this week, had a 68 that promised more with a number of birdie putts going abegging: “I felt like I gave myself a lot of chances on the back nine. Just didn’t really convert. Hitting good putts. But just mostly under-reading them. Then not to birdie the last after where I was off the tee was a little disappointing. You know, that was hopefully the bad round out of the way, there’s three more rounds to try to take it a bit lower.”
With a seventh order of merit title in his own destiny, aiming to finish the job in Dubai next week to move within one of Colin Montgomerie’s record eight, McIlroy added: “I’m just trying to work my way through the gears right now. It’s getting there. As I said, hopefully that’s my sort of worst round out of the way. But it wasn’t terrible by all means. I drove the ball well and felt like the driver was good.”
McKibbin, though, struggled to replicate the form of a week ago in Hong Kong and struggled to a 75 – which included two double-bogeys – for a 75 that left him in tied-70th with just one player, Ryggs Johnston, behind him in the 72-man field.
