Henrik Stenson leads in Abu Dhabi as American stars struggle
Saturday 21 January 2017 12:05, UK
Henrik Stenson got the defence of his Race to Dubai title off to a flying start as he opened the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship with an eight-under 64 to claim a two-shot lead.
Stenson was the pick of the group of major champions, with Dustin Johnson struggling to a 72 and Danny Willett carding a 74 in near-perfect conditions which saw 74 of the 126-man field break par on day one.
The Swede's Ryder Cup team-mate Martin Kaymer, a three-time winner in Abu Dhabi, fired a confident 66 to earn a share of second with Oliver Fisher, Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Marc Warren, while Rafa Cabrera Bello was a further stroke adrift along with Tyrrell Hatton.
But Stenson was in a class of his own at the top of the leaderboard despite admitting after his round that he had practised little during his winter break.
Playing in his first Tour event since being crowned European No 1 for the second time in his career last November, Stenson showed little signs of rust as he covered his first nine holes in just 30 strokes.
The 40-year-old rolled in a confident 10-foot putt for birdie at the 10th and picked up further shots at 12 and 13 before chipping in for another after missing the green at the 14th, where Willett ran up a triple-bogey seven.
Stenson added further birdies at 17 and 18 and parred the first six holes of the front nine before converting another pure mid-iron to six feet at the seventh and holing from similar range at the ninth to cap a "stress-free" round.
Kaymer also looked in fine touch and birdied his final three holes to post a 66 featuring eight birdies and a pair of bogeys, while Aphibarnrat kept his card blemish free and reeled off six birdies in a remarkable seven-hole stretch in the middle of his round.
Cabrera Bello, who impressed on his Ryder Cup debut at Hazeltine, looked on course to challenge Stenson for the lead when he birdied three of the first four holes and picked up further shots at 10 and 11.
But the Spaniard came to grief when an errant shot at the 13th found the middle of a large bush, a mistake that cost him a double-bogey six, although he responded positively with birdies at 16 and 18 to get back to five under.
He shares sixth with young English stars Hatton and Tommy Fleetwood, while new European Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn proved his best playing days were far from behind him as he recovered from an erratic back-nine with four birdies on the more-difficult outward half.
The veteran Dane signed for an encouraging 68, one of 17 players on four under for the day including Lee Westwood and English rookie Jordan Smith, who finished just a shot behind Rory McIlroy and eventual winner Graeme Storm in South Africa last week.
Storm, still coming to terms with the magnitude of his victory barely three months after he though he had lost his card for the 2017 season, mixed four birdies with three bogeys in a 71 - a score matched by four-time 2016 winner Alex Noren.
American stars Dustin Johnson and defending champion Rickie Fowler found the going tough and littered their cards with seven bogeys between them as both returned 72s, while Willett (74) and Chris Wood (76) face a battle to make the halfway cut.
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