Tommy Fleetwood equals course record to lead after first round in Abu Dhabi

Tommy Fleetwood carded a course record-equalling 62 to take a one-shot lead after the first round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

Fleetwood wielded a new putter to great effect as he made an eagle and eight birdies on a day of low scoring which saw 63 of the 70-man field break par at Yas Links.

Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen and American Johannes Veerman were Fleetwood’s nearest challengers on nine under par, with the English trio of Paul Waring, Laurie Canter and Tyrrell Hatton all shooting eight under.

Tommy Fleetwood goes bogey-free to tie the course record ✍️#ADGolfChamps | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/hVuF3kBowP

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Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre was another stroke back following a 64, with Rory McIlroy carding a 67.

Fleetwood, who won this event in 2017 and 2018 at a different venue, was four under par for his first three holes and followed a birdie at the seventh with five more on the back nine.

“I got off to a great start (but) I didn’t feel like I swung it perfectly early on and I actually felt like I started playing better as the round got to the back nine,” Fleetwood, who received some putting tips from former players Ken Brown and David Howell during a practice round, said.

“Putted amazing. Felt like I read the greens so well. Beautiful pace control and hit a lot of good putts and started holing them.

“When you shoot a 62, obviously everything is going to have gone very, very well. Just happy to have got off to a great start.

“I always feel like I’m a good putter. It doesn’t always show. But definitely sort of the second half of this year, I haven’t putted as well or converted as many putts as we’d have liked.

“We’ve been working on that and I happened to bump into Ken