The most interesting thing is that he said he was struggling on the range when he was warming up.
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Spieth, who won the Tournament of Champions on the PGA Tour a couple of weeks ago, needed six holes to make his first birdie, but then added six more. I read the putt from behind the hole, looked up and couldn’t even see the group behind us at the tee box. Sometimes we need to apply some common sense, especially when we are not out of position. Pelley asked the Tour’s referee staff – led by John Paramor – to come up with new ways to tackle the play and this week a “monotoring” system has been introduced which is running concurrently to the usual method of identifying and punishing culprits.
He refers to himself as a pro golf “intern”, and has taken the opportunity to play with Jordan Spieth, “Just for the chance to watch how he prepares”.
For some pre-tournament publicity, Spieth and McIlroy were among those taking part in a “Rider Cup” challenge that included riding motorized golf scooters – so-called GolfBoards – along a fairway on a local course in the gulf emirate.
Spieth said: “I don’t go to bed thinking Rory, Jason, Ricky, what are they doing?”
The tour put in place the new policy, which calls players out but has no practical financial or other impact, to allow officials to penalize individuals for slow play rather than entire groups.
He was due to be in the first group teeing off the first hole today for his second round at 3.20am British time.
There were no such problems for another 22-year-old American.
Unheralded American amateur Bryson Dechambeau shot an 8-under 64 to take the first-round lead. Typically I’m the one hitting first, though, because he’s so far ahead of me. If I can, I’ll try to wash it away… because it doesn’t affect this round, but if I get another one, I’ll get fined and I don’t think there was necessarily a reason to get that bad time.
Stenson birdied five of his last eight holes in his first round after keyhole surgery on his right knee in December.
“Not too bad on one leg, ” quipped Stenson, a runner-up in 2006.
McIlroy, who is beginning his season in Abu Dhabi for seventh straight season, has finished second at Abu Dhabi Golf Club in four of the last five years.
“It’s not about making statements or laying down markers, it’s about playing the best that I can”, the four-time Major victor said. “This time it was closer to the latter”.
Two three-putts for birdies were the only negatives for McIlroy, whose longest birdie was from 25 feet on No. 13.
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Talking to Sky Sports about his game, he said: “I’m a golfing scientist, in a sense, and I’m trying to analyse and understand each and every aspect of the golf course and the way I played, as well”.
