Tiger Woods Is Three Back of Leaders McIlroy, Karlsson at Abu Dhabi Golf
Rory McIlroy and Robert Karlsson share a one-stroke lead at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, with Tiger Woods three shots back in his season debut.
McIlroy, the U.S. Open champion from Northern Ireland, and Karlsson, from Sweden, each shot 5-under-par 67 on the opening day at Abu Dhabi Golf Club to lead Northern Ireland’s Gareth Maybin, England’s Richard Finch and France’s Jean-Baptiste Gonnet.
Woods, playing in a group with McIlroy and Luke Donald of England, shot 70 in his first event since ending a 749-day victory drought last month. Donald, No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking, shot 71.
Starting on the 10th hole, McIlroy birdied three of his first four holes. After two bogeys, he made another birdie at the 18th after hitting his second shot into a hospitality tent. He added three more birdies on his second nine holes.
“It’s a nice way to start the competitive season I suppose,” said McIlroy, ranked third in the world. “I didn’t feel like I played that good. I definitely didn’t strike the ball as good as I have been the last couple of weeks.”
Karlsson, also starting on the back nine, opened his round with two bogeys and two birdies. He had five birdies, with no bogeys, the rest of the way.
Woods had two birdies, at the par-4 11th and par-3 fourth, in a bogey-free round. The 14-time major champion, playing in Abu Dhabi for the first time, said he had trouble reading putts.
“The greens are pretty grainy and I had a hard time getting a feel for it,” he told reporters. “Towards the end, I hit some really good putts but overall I got fooled on a lot of my reads.”
Donald started with eight pars before back-to-back birdies. He bogeyed his 16th hole and finished with two pars.
Three golfers are tied at 3-under, with Masters Tournament champion Charl Schwartzel of South Africa among nine others joining Woods at 2-under. Second-ranked Lee Westwood of England shot 72, while No. 4 Martin Kaymer of Germany finished with a 5- over-par 77.
To contact the reporter on this story: Bob Bensch in London at bbensch@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Christopher Elser at celser@bloomberg.net.
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