A cutabove I went from sublime to ridiculous as rust showed

I was eagerly looking forward to the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship and the beginning of a new season, but what happened on day one of the tournament was a complete shocker.

I started very well and by the time I made back-to-back birdies on the 12th and 13th holes, I was four-under for the tournament. Considering that the leaders were at six-under, I was thinking of picking a couple more shots so that I could finish somewhere near the top of the leaderboard.

From sublime, I went to ridiculous in the space of just one hole. I made a bogey after hitting my tee shot slightly into the rough. That changed the momentum completely, and thereafter, I just could not keep the bogeys off my card. I dropped a shot on each of the last five holes to finish the day at one-over par 73.

Horrendous stretch

The only reason for that horrendous stretch could be that I have been out of practice the last few days, and the rust showed up. The game seemed all right at the Royal Trophy, but not being able to touch my clubs the week after wasn't the best way to come into the tournament.

The round done, what was important is what I did next. I was obviously upset and in absolutely no mood to practice after such a finish. But my caddie, Janet, insisted I spend some time on the range. I hit some balls, reached the hotel, and then started thinking a bit differently about the round.

I decided to look at the brighter side — at least I managed to get to four-under. That gave me immense confidence that I could repeat the act on the Friday and still be around for the weekend.

The leaderboard is bunched up with some quality names and some promising newcomers like Rhys Davies and the Irish Open winner Shane Lowry.

The scores so far have been fantastic and it is going to be a thrilling weekend for the spectators for sure.

Jeev Milkha Singh is a three-time winner on the European Tour