The tell-tales signs after hitting shots told their own story. A twirl of the club, more often than not. A focused, concentrated look on the flight of the ball. Time and time again, Rory McIlroy’s shot-making in the opening round of the season-ending DP World Tour Championship on The Earth course at Jumeriah in Dubai was precision personified, as the Northern Irishman opened with a six-under-par 66 – two adrift of first round leader Michael Kim – to stay on course for a seventh Harry Vardon Trophy for topping the order of merit.
McIlroy and Marco Penge, his closest pursuer in the Race to Dubai standings, were paired in the final group. The contrasts were stark. Where McIlroy was on cruise control for much of the round, Penge – who had been ill with a virus in the build-up – struggled to a 74 in a round where length off the tee couldn’t compensate for a lack of accuracy in his short game.
Still, McIlroy – aiming for a fourth straight order of merit, and bidding to move just one behind Colin Montgomerie’s record eight – did what he wanted in strengthening his grip on that race, and also navigating his way into contention to defend a tournament title he won last year.
Déjà vu in many ways, a year on, with McIlroy’s game – including his new TaylorMade driver which he first used in Abu Dhabi last week – again finding favour in a round where he managed seven birdies and a lone bogey, on the Par 3 fourth where his tee shot found a greenside bunker.
McIlroy’s start was impressive, reeling off three straight birdies – from six feet on the first, six feet again on the second and 18 feet on the third. “A perfect start”, as he put it, making any aspirations of Penge and Tyrrell Hatton (the only other player with a mathematical possibility of catching him, who opened with a 70) even more difficult.
Indeed, one of the few times where McIlroy displayed any frustration came on the final green, where – after being fortunate to avoid the creek down the right with his drive on the Par 5 – he laid up and then hit a wedge approach to 10 feet but failed to convert the birdie putt. A tap-in par brought the round to an end.
Michael Kim of the United States lines up a putt on the 18th green at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai, UAE. Photograph: Andrew Redington/Getty
“That was probably one of the best approach play rounds I’ve had in a long time. My wedge play felt really sharp. Had a lot of good iron shots. I don’t want to sound like I’m that disappointed but I feel like I left a few out there. I missed a couple of short ones. Overall, it was a really solid start on a golf course that I’m very comfortable on and historically I’ve played very well on,” said McIlroy.
And, of the statistics backing up improvement in his putting and approach play this season, McIlroy agreed: “I definitely I feel like I’ve made big strides in those two departments in the game over the last few years. I finished in the top-5 in strokes gained putting on the PGA Tour this year for the first time. Definitely I feel like my wedge play is a lot better, and you know, if I drive the ball well, then I give myself so many opportunities from inside 150. And if that part of my game is sharp, you know, I feel like I give myself plenty of opportunities. I think that’s why when I do play well, I’m consistently up there.”
For Shane Lowry, playing in the tournament on a special exemption as a member of Europe’s winning Ryder Cup team from Bethpage, a fine opening round 68 moved him into a share of ninth and into contention to close his season’s work in style.
Ireland’s Shane Lowry shot a 68 to finish the first day in a share of ninth. Photograph: Andrew Redington/Getty
“The only thing I didn’t do so far this season is win. I’ve got one more chance this week. Look, no matter what happens this week, I’ll sit there at Christmas and I’ll have my Ryder Cup trophy on the table and I think it will be a pretty nice year. But a win this week would definitely be the icing on the cake,” said Lowry.
Tom McKibbin opened with a two-under-par 72 for tied-22nd.
Kim is something of an outlier in that he is an American who plays predominantly on the PGA Tour, but who has taken to the post-FedEx Cup playoff period in spreading his wings to play on the DP World Tour, which garnered a win in the French Open last month.
A bogey-free round of 64 – eight birdies, including a hat-trick from the 10th – gave Kim a one-stroke lead over Tommy Fleetwood with McIlroy in a three-way tie for third alongside Andy Sullivan and Thriston Lawrence.
Kim, who credited his Florida-based coach Sean Foley with some pre-tournament fine-tuning conducted on FaceTime earlier in the week, has taken to travelling for tournaments with enthusiasm: “The PGA Tour mostly sticks inside the United States, which is great, but coming to places like Abu Dhabi, Dubai, France, and even India . . . I personally really enjoy the travel.”
