Fresh from DP World India Championship win, Fleetwood off to flyer in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi, Nov 6 (IANS) Fresh from his win in the inaugural DP World India Championship, Tommy Fleetwood got into a five-way lead at the 2025 Abu Dhabi Championship after opening with a stunning 64. This is the penultimate event on the DP World Tour.

Fleetwood was in shared lead with Ryder Cup teammate Shane Lowry, who was also in India last month. The other three were New Zealand's Kazuma Kobori, South African Richard Sterne and Frenchman Adrien Saddier on eight under par.

Reigning Race to Dubai champion and current Rankings leader Rory McIlroy, who like Fleetwood and Lowry played in India, started the DP World Tour Play-Offs with a four under par 68, as did his Ryder Cup team mate, Ludvig Åberg, with the highlight of the Swede's round his hole-in-one on the par-three eighth.

Marco Penge, McIlroy's closest challenger in the season-long race is one shot better off, amongst the group on five under par.

Reigning FedEx Cup champion Fleetwood carded eight birdies and no bogeys, while Lowry fired nine birdies and dropped a single shot.

Saddier briefly got to nine under in the afternoon after reeling off nine birdies over his first 16 holes but a bogey on the 17th saw him slip back into a share of the lead.

Sterne, who finished second behind winner Lowry at the 2019 edition of this event, made two eagles in his opening round and saved his best until last as he holed from 75 feet for a three on the par-five 18th.

There were seven players one shot further back, with Alex Noren, Andy Sullivan, Nicolai von Dellingshausen, Nicolai Højgaard, Keita Nakajima, Michael Kim and Nacho Elvira all producing 65s.

Ludvig Åberg 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.

Two-time former champion Fleetwood got off to a dream start at Yas Links, birdieing the first and second from close range before making two more gains on the seventh and eighth.

A 20-foot birdie on the tenth and a tap-in at the 11th saw the Englishman make back-to-back birdies for the third time in the round.

And he picked up another shot from range at the par-three 13th before birdieing the 16th to reach eight under.

Lowry also turned in 32 after making four front-nine birdies. He then picked up five more shots on the back nine, with his only blemish coming at the 12th.

Saddier opened his birdie account at the second before making a hat-trick from the sixth and continuing his birdie blitz with four in a row from the 11th.

He hit the front on his own with a 22-footer at the 16th before giving the shot straight back to finish on eight under.

Sterne turned in 29 after making an eagle and five birdies on the front. His back nine was mixed but he closed the round in style, holing a monster eagle putt.

--IANS

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