Lowry goes low to get off to flying start in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi: Irishman Shane Lowry got the perfect start to his 2019 European Tour season at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, as he equalled the course record with a blistering bogey-free 10-under-par 62 in the UAE capital.

Despite playing in a field that includes No. 2 Brooks Koepka and No. 3 Dustin Johnson along with a host of other big names such as Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and Henrik Stenson, it was world No. 75 Lowry who took centrestage.

A flawless card for the County Offaly 31-year-old contained 10 birdies and eight pars allowing him to open up a three-stroke lead on the pack, with the closest contenders being South African duo Louis Oosthuizen and Richard Sterne alongside France’s Mike Lorenzo-Vera and Spaniard and Pablo Larrazabal on seven-under.

Westwood, Poulter and three-time Abu Dhabi champion Martin Kaymer are a stroke further back along with Alexander Bjork and Soren Kjeldsen.

Lowry was flying from the start as he picked up three birdies in the first three holes and chalked up two more on the seventh and eighth to make the turn at -5.

Not satisfied with that, he added five more, including a tap-in on the last after just coming up short with an eagle attempt.

“I had a lovely break at Christmas,” said a thrilled Lowry, whose 62 equalled the record set by Stenson in 2006. “I was home for the whole lot of it and I came out here with my family and rented a house in Dubai.

“We’ve had it since the third of January. Myself and Paul Dunne are sharing the house and we’re practising together and we’ve been playing a lot together over at the Els Club in Dubai, and we got some great work done.

“I feel good about my game. It’s probably the best pre-season I’ve ever done, and it showed today. I’m just hoping I can keep going.

“I didn’t hit as many fairways as I would have liked, but I was hitting everything close and managed to hole a couple of putts as well. It was one of those days where it just felt comfortable.

“But look, I just want to enjoy it because it’s a great day and I think it equals my best round I’ve ever had, so enjoy it and then get out tomorrow and see what I can do.”

Further down the leaderboard, Koepka is lurking on five-under in joint-11th place, while Johnson carded a three-under 69 to sit in joint-18th, alongside two-time defending champion Tommy Fleetwood. It wasn’t the beast day for Stenson as he is level par after the first round in joint-75th along with a crowd of players including Asian No. 1 Shubhankar Sharma.

Leaderboard

1 Shane Lowry (IRL) -10

2 Louis Oosthuizen (RSE) -7

Mike Lorenzo-Vera (FRA) -7

Richard Sterne (RSA) -7

5 Alexander Bjork (SWE) -6

Soren Kjeldsen (DEN) -6

Ian Poulter (ENG) -6

Lee Westwood (ENG) -6

Martin Kaymer (GER) -6

Pablo Larrazabal (ESP) -6

Record Abu Dhabi Championship Scores