RORY MCILROY HIT the ground running with a bogey-free first round at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
After opening with a two-under-par 70, the world number six said he was striking the ball as well as he has done in a long time.
“I was really pleased with how I hit the ball out there,” McIlroy told EuropeanTour.com.
“I think from tee to green I was really solid. I drove the ball great but probably didn’t take advantage of some of the great opportunities I gave myself, I could have been a few better.
Starting off bogey-free is always a nice way to start and definitely a nice score to build on for the rest of the week.
McIlroy sits three shots off the early clubhouse lead shared by Rafael Cabrera-Bello, Romain Wattel and Matthew Baldwin. Europe’s Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley is a shot off the pace on four-under thru 16 holes at the time of writing.
For McIlroy, the decision to spend the new year fine-tuning his game in the Emirates appears to have left him in a good place.
He said: “I feel the benefit of ending last year well and starting off this year with a lot of hard work and graft. It showed out there.
“That was my first competitive round since the start of December and I drove the ball as well as I have done in a long time so that was very pleasing.”
