The new rules, introduced by European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley, are different to those of the PGA Tour, with the aim of shaving 15 minutes off the duration of a round to help the sport become “more appealing and engaging to fans”.
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Spieth, who eased to an eight-shot win at last month’s Hyundai Tournament of Champions, admitted he was disappointed with his driving during a four-under 68, but had plenty of praise for McIlroy’s round.
Current world number one Jordan Spieth had previously described the Olympics as the “fifth major” but, speaking ahead of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, which begins tomorrow, the American is unsure of the value a gold medal at the Games in Rio de Janeiro would have.
McIlroy had insisted he was not concerned about laying down a marker to Spieth after being drawn with the Masters and US Open champion, but the four-time major victor certainly made an impression with an opening 66. So it would be foolish of me to think that’s all my competition is.
“If I had not won a Major, I would probably still say a Major”. It didn’t make any sense to me.
Under a revised pace of play policy approved only on Tuesday by the Tour’s tournament committee, any player exceeding the time allowed for a shot – 50 seconds if playing first, 40 seconds thereafter – while being monitored, will be given a monitoring penalty.
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”.
“You’ve got a couple of other people out there like Einstein or George Washington and they just stood out and capitalised on their differences and showed the world a little different side”. Far from it. The only time they took a while was at the second hole, where Rickie Fowler, the third member of the group, had to wait for a ruling.
“It was actually quite competitive”, Rory McIlroy said afterwards. I want my name to go down in history for as many things as it can.
“We’re exhausted of hearing about the changes that need to be made”, said Spieth of the American team, who have been on the losing end eight times in the last 10 Ryder Cups.
The world number five, who holds the course record of 62 in Abu Dhabi, closed with a bogey after failing to make an up-and-down from the bunker on the ninth hole, but that was his only blemish the whole day. The 22-year-old from California tests the balance of his golf balls as routine in Epsom salts and, to assist with posture, has a set of irons with all shafts the exact same length.
“I didn’t drive the ball well, which is really the key out here”.
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Whilst the gallery that followed the three players was comfortably the biggest on the day, it was Spieth who seemed to enjoy McIlroy’s play the most out of everyone.
