At least that’s how the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship fairytale goes, unless of course you’re co-leaders Thomas Pieters or Ross Fisher, or anyone of the 13 other players within five shots of the lead.

As Matthew Fitzpatrick showed with his sizzling 63 on Saturday, Abu Dhabi G.C. is there for the taking, not withstanding the threat of gusty winds on Sunday. It certainly won’t surprise if someone the ilk of the 23-year-old Englishman, world No.1 Dustin Johnson, defending champion Tommy Fleetwood or even Andrew “Beef” Johnston, emerges as the joker from the chasing pack to win the Desert Swing opener.

But Rory, four-times a bridesmaid around The National and a player who has finished no worse than 11th in nine appearances in Abu Dhabi, is overdue a Falcon and clearly the most dangerous immediate threat to Pieters and Thomas.

The world No.11’s comeback to golf after a 3.5 month sabbatical is already well ahead of schedule as just one bogey in 54 holes illustrates. Even that dropped shot was spectacular after the 28-year-old holed out from the fringe after taking two to escape a greenside trap on the par 3 15th in his third round 65.

Indeed, the Northern Irishman has got better with every round – 69, 66, 65 – and appears in supreme control of his TaylorMade TP5x golf ball from tee to green and around it too as his chip-in for birdie on the 17th yesterday highlighted. With four majors, two WGC titles, seven regular season European Tour and as many again on the PGA Tour, it’s not like McIlroy doesn’t know how to seal the deal, ring rust or not.

So what would it mean to triumph straight out of the blocks in 2018 to erase the first winless, and injury riddled, year of your career?

“It would mean a lot. I’ve had a lot of close calls here, I think about six top threes or something like that,” said the former world No.1.

“I’ve never won my first start back out either. I was close last year in South Africa, Stormy [Graeme Storm] beat me in a playoff. It’s felt like a while since I’ve won and just to give myself these chances; I gave myself a chance at the end of the year at Close House and wasn’t able to do it. Paul Dunne played too well for me. I’m excited to get back on the horse and give myself another chance tomorrow.”

After a 67 Saturday, Pieters has a golden chance too and is a player unlikely to go backwards. That said, the Belgian, T-4 in 2015 and runner-up to Rickie Fowler a year later, will need his icy-cold putter to warm up or he could be overrun in what shapes up as an intriguing, multi-player shootout. The 25-year-old would almost be out of sight if he’d capitalised on all his third round chances but will instead need to survive Sunday’s scramble if he is to capture a fourth European Tour title.

“Yeah, first event out and that’s where you want to be [leading]. You want to have a bit of nerves and feel like you’re in contention, and I look forward to tomorrow,” Pieters said.

After rounds of 67-67-65, Fisher has zeroed in his first European Tour win since the 2014 Tshwane Open and is likewise excited to be in the mix.

“Just having a chance to win the first event for me on The European Tour season, such a prestigious event here in Abu Dhabi, HSBC, you only have to walk up 18 and see the list of past champions,” Fisher said.

“So to have a chance of putting my name amongst that illustrious property of players would be great. Have to go out and play as well as I have done the first three days. I’m excited and looking forward to the challenge.”

He’s not alone.

The post Elusive Falcon within McIlroy’s grasp as Pieters and Fisher lead in Abu Dhabi appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

But it’s what the 23-year-old Englishman planned to do after his eventual best-of-the-week 63 and before bedtime on Saturday that could be the key to his tilt at the $3 million Desert Swing title.

While Fitzpatrick’s putter was impossibly hot in the third round, his driver was not and he figured on ironing that out on the range.

“You know, it’s a real funny one for me today because I don’t feel like tee-to-green I played that well,” Fitzpatrick said after soaring 17 places up the leaderboard into a share of fourth,  two shots shy of overnight co-leaders Thomas Pieters and Ross Fisher.

“I’m sure people will be sat at home thinking, he must have played well. Don’t get me wrong, I had a lot of good approaches, but just struggled a little bit off the tee. Around here it’s really important to get yourself in play off the tee. If you can hit 14 fairways, there’s always a score out there, basically.

“So play a better long game than today, really [that’s the plan for Sunday]. If I go out and shoot the same score, I’ll be a happy man. I think it will be tough to beat. “

Fitzpatrick started Saturday in the eighth to last threesome, six shots adrift of the -12 marker set by 36-hole leader Pieters. But a birdie-birdie start, a gaggle of three more in succession from the fourth and further gains at the 8th and 9th and Fitzpatrick had  gone out in 29 strokes (his best nine was a 28 at the KLM Open two years ago] and hauled himself right back into contention.

When he birdied the par 5 10th and par 4 12th, bookending a magnificent par save after short-siding himself in the hay to the right of the 11th green, the 2016 DP World Tour Champion was a stunning nine under through 12 holes. The 59 watch was on as not even Fitzpatrick could ignore it.

“You know, you’re always thinking, 59, you really are,” he said when asked what he was thinking as he wandered from the 12th green.

“It’s difficult not to. Even though I wasn’t playing great, I knew how well I was putting and I felt if I could just give myself those chances on the greens, I could make the putts, basically.

“So I didn’t feel it would take much to just pick up a few more birdies. I only needed four. I knew 18 was obviously reachable and then a couple of those [last holes], you just get it nearby the hole and you sort of try and take your chance. But you know, it’s so difficult.”

Historically so. There have been two 59s on the Challenge Tour but the lowest score on the European Tour remains 61, a record five players, including Ross Fisher and Paul Dunne (the Irishman shot a 65 in the same group as Fitzpatrick and starts Sunday four back) who are contending here, jointly hold.

A bogey on the 16th, when Fitzpatrick again short-sided himself firing at a pin tucked tight left on the par 4, scuppered the 59 and ultimately cost the Ryder Cupper a share of the Abu Dhabi course record set by Henrik Stenson in the inaugural championship in 2006.

Not that Fitzpatrick was grizzling afterwards.

“At the end of the day, the game is all about scoring, and obviously I’ve scored ridiculously well today. That’s what’s nice. I’m back in the tournament and it’s something at the start of the year that I wanted to do is contend more. “

If Fitzpatrick and his putter slept well overnight, don’t discount the world No.30 turning a good start to 2018 into a great one with his fifth European Tour title.

The post Fitzpatrick flirts with 59 to be right in the Abu Dhabi shootout appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Detry enters Sunday just three shots off the -17 pace set by countryman Thomas Pieters and Englishman Ross Fisher and within sight of a maiden European Tour title to go with the Challenge Tour crown he collected in Oxfordshire two years ago.

“Yeah, we’ve got a strong Team Belgium out here on Tour. We had a Team Belgium campus training down in southern France. It was a lot of fun with Nico [Colsaerts], TP [Thomas Pieters] and my two coaches. It’s a great way to get ready for the season,” said Detry.

“Last week was a little difficult but it was a good way to get it going again and find a rhythm for this week.”

The time amongst friends has worked its magic. Despite having a new caddy on the bag, the 2017 BMW International Open runner-up looked right at home on The National.

“I hit a lot of fairways, a lot of greens. 17, I missed it right off the tee but a lot of stress-free golf. I had a lot of 4-, 5-, 6-footers right-to-left, left-to-right with a
little bit of grain. So you have to be careful with those. I just managed pretty well, so pretty pleased with the way I played.”

Save for a monster putt from off the far side of the green on 17 and another birdie try that burnt the edge on 18, Saturday’s eight under circuit looked very comfortable. While the Belgian’s driver was mainly solid on moving day, it was the flat-stick that really made the score.

“Today the putter was hotter and I hit some close ones and made some good putts, like the one on 17, that was a bonus. So very pleased with the way I’m playing golf and I’m excited for the rest of the season.

“For some reason I get hot, and out here, I hit a few good tee shots and I left myself short irons into the greens. I hit them close and I was able to read the line properly. That’s it. Sounds easy but it’s tougher to do that than to actually say it.”

The post Detry doubles Belgian challenge with Saturday 64 appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By John Tully-Jackson
Andrew Johnston is the sort of golfer you’d love to spend time with off the course and it’s a big reason why the cult-hero struggled to find the right work/life balance in the past year. Now he’s zeroed his focus on golf, “Beef” is again showing that nice guys don’t always have to finish down the leaderboard.

The 28-year-old Londoner goes into the final round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship just three shots off the lead and with a serious shot at a second European Tour title.

It’s a mightily positive start to his reset season. Johnston won the Real Club Valderrama Open de España and finished eighth at The Open Championship in a breakout 2016 but has toiled since.

He failed to record a single top-10 in Europe in 2017, a season in which his time was split between both the European and PGA Tours. It saw him tumble to No.186 in the world rankings, something he hopes to rectify this year with a new approach.

“I’m a social person. If you go out with friends or you get invited to something, I’ll have a drink, please, but I probably had a few too many to be honest and it reflected in my golf. I was disappointed looking back at it. I want to turn that around and have a good season.

“Last year was crazy and like getting distracted and things like that, and you don’t know it’s happened until you’ve finished the season, you’re off doing things and you’re burning the candle at both ends.

“When I got back from last season, sort of had time to reflect on it, I sort of said to myself, you know, you’ve got to keep quiet and keep disciplined and get on with your work. I came out here a week early to Dubai and drove down. It’s been good prep.”

The Englishman made a solid start in Abu Dhabi with a pair of 68s and a single bogey 66 on Saturday. If he can continue his form on The National Sunday, he will comfortably beat his best European Tour result of 2017, T-21 finish at the BMW PGA Championship.

“Got to drive the ball well. I think if you drive it well, you give yourself a lot of wedges, 9-irons in and you can score. I think you’ve got to put it on the fairway, and I did that the front nine today and I didn’t drive it as well on the back. That’s why I didn’t carry on the scoring today. That is the key.”

Beef will undoubtedly have strong support from the galleries Sunday. The affable Englishman will also go into the final round well-rested.

“Just chill out, man,” was Johnston’s plan for Saturday night. “Probably watch Netflix for a bit, something like that and get some room service and relax.”

The post Beef on a roll in Abu Dhabi appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Thomas Pieters may lead the 13th Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship but with all due respect to the Belgian bomber and a bevy of big names on a bunched leaderboard, Rory’s the story.

With an exquisite eagle on 18, Rory McIlroy put his autograph on a 66 and Friday’s second round at the $3 million Desert Swing opener to glide into moving day just three shots off Pieters’ blistering -12 pace.

McIlroy’s score wasn’t the best round of the day or even the lowest in his group. That honour belonged to world No.1 Dustin Johnson whose sublime eight-under 64 was matched by second placed Spaniard Jorge Campillo and South African low score specialist Branden Grace (who can forget that historic 62 in last summer’s Open at Royal Birkdale) who soared 59 spots up the leaderboard into a share of 10th.

A 68 from Tommy Fleetwood, the third member of the McIlroy-Johnson group, was nothing to be sneezed at either. It leaves the defending champion a mere two shots adrift and meant the marquee three-ball looped The National in a combined 18 under with just one bogey between them, Fleetwood’s five on the par 4 16th.

But it was McIlroy’s booming drive, long-iron, putt from downtown combo in the fading light that lit up what is already an utterly absorbing championship.

"Welcome back Rory!"

McIlroy eagles the 18th to finish at 9 under par ???? pic.twitter.com/1QKT60ykZy

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) January 19, 2018

Indeed, the return of Rory after a 3.5 month sabbatical to sort body and soul after a winless 2017 might be just 36 holes old, but it’s clear the thus-far bogey-free world No.11 is back to near his best.

“It was a nice way to finish,” McIlroy. “Felt like I gave myself tons of chances on the back nine and it was sort of difficult to convert them. I always struggle to read these greens, the colour of them and I feel like I’m hitting good putts and they are just sliding by the edges.

“But I stayed patient and feel like I got what I deserved on the last for staying so patient and it was nice to finish with a three, leapfrog a few guys and get myself into contention for the weekend.”

As impressive as McIlroy has been, the Northern Irishman admitted there “wasn’t that many fireworks apart from the putt on the last” which made the 25-plus footer, the difference between seven or eight under and his eventual score of -9, critical going into the weekend.

“It’s massive. With five shots to make up over the weekend, it’s quite a lot especially with a bunched leaderboard, so to cut that deficit to three, I feel so much closer to the lead. Feel like if I get off to a hot start tomorrow before the leaders go off and all of a sudden you’re one back or tied for the lead, and then you’re really in the tournament.”

There were, of course, countless storylines other than Rory; Campillo’s blemish free card of eight birdies; a second successive 67 from Ross Fisher and Alexander Levy’s 65 which sees the Frenchman just two back in a share of third at -10 alongside Fisher and Fleetwood.

Tied for sixth on -9 with McIlroy are Paul Casey, Andy Sullivan (both 65), Sam Brazel and Bernd Wiesberger (68) who all intend on having a say on moving day and hopefully beyond.

Even Matt Kuchar, making his Abu Dhabi bow, provided a bit of late drama, draining a birdie bomb on 18 to squeeze into the weekend on the -2 cutline like Justin Rose. Big names such as Westwood, Poulter, McDowell and Dechambeau weren’t so fortunate.

Clutch ?

Needing to birdie 18 to make the weekend, both Justin Rose and Matt Kuchar delivered! pic.twitter.com/OUmcKcXM7Y

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) January 19, 2018

But for theatre on Friday it was difficult to look beyond the marquee trio.

After another slow even par start on Thursday, Johnson is right back in the mix. “I did everything really well. I mean, 64, it was a pretty easy 64. I hit it really well. I had a lot of great looks. I didn’t really hole any putts, really, until I made two nice putts on 17 and 18. But other than that, it was just really solid all day long.

“I’m only four back going into the weekend, so we’ve still got 36 holes to go. I just need to play some good, solid golf and get myself right back in there for Sunday.”

Fleetwood, celebrating his 27th birthday, came to the party too even if it wasn’t quite as effortless as his opening 66.

“I wasn’t quite on it today, so it was a bit more of an effort for me. Dustin shot the most stress-free 64 you’ll ever see and Rory just shot the most stress-free 66 you’ll ever see. Those two played great. I was very happy to get in today, sort of from the turn, I didn’t play that great and so I was kind of hanging on.”

The post Pieters the pacesetter but Rory’s the story appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The post Casey content with intent appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Switching between spending the festive period on the slopes amongst loved ones and putting in the hard yards on the range on his lonesome in the U.S., the world No.75 seems to have found the answer as he enters Saturday at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship presented by EGA at -7, five shots adrift of leader Thomas Pieters.

“The first five, six years being on tour, I always went to America and practiced there. But then, you never really spend time with your family and with your friends and that should be the time. So then I had a couple years after that where I went skiing and I tried skiing for the first time three or four years ago, and it was nice, too. But I always felt like I had a bad conscience; I should do something, because I’ve done it many years before.”

It has been four years since Kaymer’s last win, the 2014 U.S. Open, his second major, and he’s reverted back to his tried and triumphant method, which saw him pick up his three Falcon trophies in 2008, 2010 and 2011.

“The last two winters, I did the same thing again. I went to America. It could be a bit of a lonely time. It’s Christmas and then it’s also my birthday, New Year’s Eve, where you should be with your family, and I’ve been on my own, which is okay if you have the goals that I have. You know, it’s a Ryder Cup year and I really want to be a part of that.

“So it’s okay. You have to sacrifice a few things in order to do well.”

No one could accuse the most successful player in Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship history of being lazy, and it seems the work has paid off. Back-to-back 34s on Friday followed his opening 69 to propel the German into contention to collect his fourth Falcon.

“I practiced a lot in the winter time, and it’s always difficult to know when the work you’ve put in, when it will pay off? Yesterday I drove it okay but not great. Today I hit a lot of fairways and a lot of good iron shots.”

“I could have shot three or four shots better today. My putter was a bit cold at some stages, but overall it was a solid start and after the break, I think it was a solid performance so far.”

The post Kaymer: ‘You have to sacrifice a few things in order to do well.’ appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

At Abu Dhabi Golf Club’s 177-yard par 3 15th hole, all three pros found the putting surface, with McIlroy’s being the closest. Despite the immense pressure for Murphy, a six-handicapper, he pulled out a 3 wood and striped it:

Playing with your hero, @McIlroyRory –

Taking down the World Number One –

Today is a day 13 year old Oscar Murphy will never forget. pic.twitter.com/yGLLUrreQc

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) January 18, 2018

Another thing the European Tour does well? Commentating. “What a crackerjack, like a young Rory.” So perfect.

Murphy’s ball settled 25 feet from the pin, good enough to be inside Fleetwood and Johnson, the No. 1 player in the world. Not too shabby. And even though McIlroy just beat him out, he and Fleetwood were both in awe when talking about Murphy’s shot after the round.

“The pin was tucked on the right and he hit this three wood, just faded in to the pin,” said Fleetwood.“An unbelievable shot and me and Rory both said ‘we don’t have that in our locker’.”

McIlroy added:“Oscar lives here. He’s from Northern Ireland so he’s been following me since the 2011 PGA Championship in Atlanta.

“Every round I play here I feel like he’s my little mascot. I wasn’t expecting to see him on the tee there – I was a little bit surprised to see him inside the ropes but he hit a great shot.”

The post Watch: 13-year-old hits tee shot inside of Dustin Johnson, Tommy Fleetwood in Abu Dhabi appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.