Tommy Fleetwood, the 2017 Race to Dubai champion, rode the momentum of his low-scoring three-ball during today’s first round of the Aviv Dubai Championship, as the Englishman carded an impressive six under par 66 at Jumeirah Golf Estates.
Fleetwood was out with fellow Ryder Cup star Paul Casey along with Min Woo Lee, the highest-ranked player in the Race to Dubai in the field, with all three players carding four under par or lower over the Fire course.
“I think it always helps when there are a couple of you playing well, of course it does, because there’s just more momentum there so you just ride that,” said Fleetwood. “I started off like a rocket, four under through five and bar the odd sloppy, disappointing mistake I just threw a good round together like a few people did.
“But you’ve still got to hit the shots, you can still play bad golf and bogey. I did it on a couple of really easy holes, so it’s still out there to happen. It always helps when Paul, who I’m obviously close with, and I know Min Woo pretty well – all three of us were playing well and anytime you have a day like that it obviously helps.”
The 2018 Ryder Cup rookie is on a good run of form with three top tens in his last five worldwide outings, including a runner-up finish at the Italian Open, as he looks to seal a first victory since the 2019 NedBank Golf Challenge in South Africa.
With a low winning score expected again this week, after Antoine Rozner reached 25 under par last year, Fleetwood was happy with his display on course despite some sloppy moments.
“I drove it well,” said Fleetwood. “I did a lot of very good things. There were a couple of sloppy things out there that you would like to, on a really good day when you feel like you can get it going, you would rather not do.
“But overall off the tee I felt pretty confident, in a good space. I felt a lot of good tee shots and gave myself a good chance of scoring. It’s a scorable morning and you can see by the scores, but you’ve still got to go out there
