Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship: Top four scorers of round one
The first round of Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship wrapped up on Thursday after a breathtaking battle. The spectators saw the leaderboard flipping several times before Charl Schwartzel finally came up to take the lead.
The tournament took place at the Abu Dhabi Golf Course, which has undergone some renovation. The fairways have been widened, which gives an edge to the long game players and the greens have been bunkered to increase the difficulty level.
Despite the changes, Schwartzel managed a score of 8-under-par to step ahead of the field. The South African teed off from the front and with a gap of one green, picked up the first point of the tournament. The crowd cheered at the superb start, which served
as an energy drink for the veteran. After that, the punter smashed three back-to-back birdies on the fourth, fifth and sixth hole.
However, that was not the end of the magnificent front nine. The 26-year-old fired one last birdie on the closing hole and capped the first half with a score of 5-under-par.
On his way to the back, the winner of 2011 Joburg Open unleashed his sand wedge and walked the first three greens with triplet birdies. The combo of eight points pushed him into the top, but not for long.
The six-time winner on the European tour encountered a sand trap on the 17th fairway, which resulted in a loss. Although, the player recovered the ball in the first attempt, he failed to reach the par in four strokes. The loss of one point brought
him down parallel to Padraig Harrington, but only for a short period. The player smacked an iron from 185 yards of the green and settled for the ninth birdie of the day. Schwartzel wrapped up the first round as the leader.
One stroke below him was the man who was recently disqualified from the tournament for moving the ball away from the marker. Padraig Harrington composed a beautiful scorecard with no bogeys, five birdies, and one eagle.
The Dubliner was himself shocked at the eagle that left his putter with speed, hit the flag, and then plunged in.
Harrington commented on the shot, “It was a shock it went in at that pace. The first putt of the day I was away with the fairies, but I made the most out of the round - another day that would have been 69. One thing showed up in the States last year. I was
about 156th in every putting category, so something needed to be done.”
Further below on the leaderboard were Graeme McDowell, Alexander Noren, and Niclas Fasth who managed a score of 66.
The Northern Irishman was simply genius on the back nine. McDowell chose to tee from the back and after picking up a point at the tenth hole, fired five back-to-back birdies on the last holes. Walking around in a red polo shirt, McDowell seemed confident,
unlike his last attempts on the course.
However, he failed to tackle the front nine and settled for par after losing the sole birdie to a bogey at the sixth hole.
Meanwhile, Fasth made his way to the top three without any bogey. The Swede netted six birdies with 100 per cent Green Hits in Regulation stats. Unlike him, his compatriot Noren missed a shot at the fifth hole and settled for a score of 66.
The winner of Race of Dubai and the defending champion Martin Kaymer finished fourth with 67 and seemed confused on the course, although he has posted victories on venues like this in the past.
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