Shane Lowry felt he and Ryder Cup team-mate Tommy Fleetwood fed off each other as the playing partners shot opening rounds of 64 to sit in a five-way tie for the lead at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
Having also shot a first-round 64 in the company of Fleetwood in India last month, the Irishman was once again at his very best with the reigning FedEx Cup champion by his side.
Lowry made nine birdies and a single bogey on Thursday, while Fleetwood carded eight birdies in a spotless round to join Kazuma Kobori, Richard Sterne and Adrien Saddier on eight under par.
"It was nice," said 2019 champion Lowry, who also played with Rasmus Hojgaard in round one. "I was pretty excited when I saw the group, my pairing today, and it was nice to go out there with the boys.
"I was paired with (Fleetwood) in India the first two days and I shot 64 as well.
"So yeah, something about me and Tommy. But no, I just like playing with him, your friend, and really good player too.
"And you kind of feed off each other. It was nice."
Englishman Fleetwood, a two-time winner of this event, said: "I played well. I was very, very good off the tee and I think I made some good decisions off the tee.
"I felt very comfortable with the shots that I chose and I hit. I putted well. I think I made a big par save on the 12th and followed that with a birdie, which was I think a crucial part of the round if it's going to be a very, very good round.
"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."
Fellow Ryder Cup star Ludvig Aberg made a hole-in-one on the par-three eighth, landing his tee-shot a couple of feet from the pin before watching his ball roll into the cup for an ace.
PA
