Shane Lowry equalled Henrik Stenson’s 13-year course record at Abu Dhabi Golf Club with an opening round 62 to take a three-shot lead at the HSBC Championship.
The Irishman, who has not won on tour since August 2015, was playing his first competitive round since the Melbourne Cup in November, but has been practising diligently for a fortnight in Dubai with close friend Paul Dunne to prepare for the European Tour's season-opening 'desert swing'.
In-form Louis Oosthuizen, who ended a two-year trophy-drought prior to Christmas with an emotional homecoming win in South Africa, carded a seven-under-par 65 to leave himself in contention, alongside compatriot Richard Sterne, and Europeans Mike Lorenzo-Vera and Pablo Larrazabal.
“I had a lovely break at Christmas,” Lowry said after his terrific blemish-free round, which included birdies on five of the opening seven holes. “I was home for the whole lot of it and I came out here with my family and rented a house in Dubai.
“We’ve had it since the third of January. Myself and Paul Dunne are sharing the house and we’re practising together and we’ve been playing a lot together over at the Els Club in Dubai, and we got some great work done.
“I feel good about my game. It’s probably the best pre-season I’ve ever done, and it showed today. I’m just hoping I can keep going.
“I didn’t hit as many fairways as I would have liked, but I was hitting everything close and managed to hole a couple of putts as well. It was one of those days where it just felt comfortable.
“But look, I just want to enjoy it because it’s a great day and I think it equals my best round I’ve ever had, so enjoy it and then get out tomorrow and see what I can do.”
Veteran Englishmen Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood are also in the hunt, just four shots back on six-under par. Poulter began his PGA Tour season in good fashion in Hawaii with two top-35 finishes while Westwood ended a drought of his own in South Africa, winning the Nedbank Golf Challenge in December.
Brooks Koepka, who can reclaim his World No 1 ranking from Justin Rose this week with a win, also remains in the hunt after carding an ominous 67 opening round.
Tommy Fleetwood, who is aiming to become just the fifth man in history – behind Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Colin Montgomerie and Nick Faldo – to win the tournament however may already be out of reach having mustered just a three-under-par 69, leaving him seven shots back.
