Fleetwood goes low to lead Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship
Tournament: Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship
Race to Dubai: Tournament 43 of 44
DP World Tour Play-Offs: Tournament 1 of 2
Rolex Series: Tournament 4 of 5
Venue: Yas Links, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Prize Fund: US$9,000,000
Hashtag: #ADGolfChamps #RolexSeries
Press Officer: Tom Carlisle / +44 (0) 7342 034593 / tcarlisle@europeantourgroup.com;
Clare Bodel / +44 (0) 7392 092892 cbodel@europeantourgroup.com
Round One Report
Tommy Fleetwood carded a course record-equalling ten under par 62 to take the first round lead at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, the first event of the DP World Tour Play-Offs and penultimate event of the 2024 Race to Dubai.
The Englishman, already a two-time winner of this tournament after claiming back-to-back victories in 2017 and 2018, carded eight birdies and an eagle on a low-scoring day at Yas Links to sit one stroke ahead of former Ryder Cup teammate Thorbjørn Olesen and America’s Johannes Veerman.
The 33-year-old, a seven-time DP World Tour winner, was four under after just three holes as he started birdie, eagle, birdie, and he made six further gains as he signed for his bogey-free round, rolling in a final birdie at the last to take the outright lead.
Fleetwood also has one eye on a second Race to Dubai title as he started the week in fifth place on the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex. A strong performance in Abu Dhabi would give him an outside chance of catching current Rankings leader and reigning Number One Rory McIlroy at next week’s DP World Tour Championship.
Denmark’s Olesen is seeking a second Rolex Series victory this week to follow on from his 2018 Italian Open success. The Dane won his eighth DP World Tour title earlier this year in the UAE, triumphing at the Ras Al Khaimah Championship in January.
Veerman, who won his maiden title at the 2021 D+D REAL Czech Masters, earned his place in the first event of the DP World Tour Play-Offs after finishing T8, T14 and T14 in his last three starts. He carded eight birdies and an eagle as he joined Olesen on nine under par.
Four-time Rolex Series winner Tyrrell Hatton shares fourth on eight under with fellow Englishmen Laurie Canter and Paul Waring and Italy’s Francesco Laporta.
McIlroy carded a five under par 67 to sit in a share of 18th place. The Northern Irishman would win the Race to Dubai for a sixth time if he were to finish more than 2,000 Rankings points ahead of his nearest challenger after this event.
Player Quotes
Tommy Fleetwood: When you shoot a 62, obviously everything is going to have gone very, very well. Just happy to have got off to a great start.
I didn’t feel like I swung it perfectly early on and I actually felt like I started playing better as the round got to the back nine. I felt like I swung it really nicely on the back nine. One poor iron shot trying to drill it on 17.
Putted amazing. Felt like I read the greens so well. Beautiful pace control and hit a lot of good putts and started holing them. I worked even all the way through to the last hole, I just hit perfect putts.
The wind picked up a little bit, but overall it was fairly calm, and I think the course, fairways are playing fast. Greens are actually quite receptive and the greens are perfect.
You’ve got to this part of the year, and how many are in this field, 70? 70 best players on the DP World Tour, very good golf and we had nice conditions on a beautiful golf course. Just shows the standard of golf that’s out there.
Thorbjørn Olesen: I holed some long putts. Yeah, just putted well all the way around. Obviously played pretty well, but the putter was definitely on fire the whole day. With the conditions of the greens, if you putted really well, you can make a lot of putts. I’m very happy with that.
There’s not that much breeze out there, so it definitely feels hot. I think maybe I’m a bit more used to it now after being out here for a couple of years. So yeah, it is tricky.
Two of the biggest events we have all year besides the majors. A lot of points up for grabs these two weeks and yeah, it’s always nice if you can finish strong to a season. I’m excited. I like to play in the Middle East. I always enjoy coming here. Try to do my best and we’ll see what happens.
Johannes Veerman: It went just about as good as I would have hoped maybe even better. I got off to a really fast start. The conditions on this course are pure so you’re never going to have a bad lie. The putts roll true. It’s pretty self-evident in the scoring today but yeah, 9-under, might be my best opening round in a while. I’m sure maybe I’ve done it somewhere but it’s been a while.
You kind of try to stay out of your own way so it’s easy to start thinking about the holes ahead and the shots ahead and I’m doing this and this is what everyone else was doing, so you just control what you can control which is your posture, how you carry yourself.
I think everybody knows. It’s no secret, if you do well this week, there are things on line, like the majors next year and PGA TOUR cards, and you just embrace it and you just take it one day at a time.
Rory McIlroy: I know that if I have a really good week this week, it makes my job a lot easier next week. Honestly it’s nice to be paired with Thriston and Rasmus because you can sort of keep an eye on what they are doing, as well.
It’s been a really good year, very, very consistent. Started well with the win in Dubai and I’ve let a couple slip away as well. But I’ve had a great deal of consistency, and that’s the reason that I find myself in the place that I am. And I wanted to come here to the Middle East these two weeks and finish the season off the way I felt it deserves to be finished off.
It’s a place I’m very, very comfortable with. I have a lot of friends here. I lived in the region for four years. So it feels a bit like a second home to me. It’s always nice to get back, and very familiar with the surroundings, it seems to produce some good golf for me.
Round One Scores
62 T FLEETWOOD (ENG),
63 J VEERMAN (USA), T OLESEN (DEN),
64 L CANTER (ENG), F LAPORTA (ITA), T HATTON (ENG), P WARING (ENG),
65 M SIEM (GER), N NORGAARD (DEN), R MACINTYRE (SCO),
66 A FITZPATRICK (ENG), S S?DERBERG (SWE), J NIEMANN (CHI), M JORDAN (ENG), A OTAEGUI (ESP), B STONE (RSA), R H?JGAARD (DEN),
67 A GARCIA-HEREDIA (ESP), Y PAUL (GER), R LANGASQUE (FRA), A SADDIER (FRA), J LUITEN (NED), K NAKAJIMA (JPN), A HIDALGO (ESP), M WALLACE (ENG), R MCILROY (NIR), T LAWRENCE (RSA),
68 E FERGUSON (SCO), J SMITH (ENG), G MIGLIOZZI (ITA), S CROCKER (USA), U COUSSAUD (FRA), B WIESBERGER (AUT), T MCKIBBIN (NIR),
69 J SCHAPER (RSA), M BALDWIN (ENG), G GREEN (MAS), M LEE (AUS), J ROSE (ENG), N ELVIRA (ESP), S BAIRSTOW (ENG), A SULLIVAN (ENG), S LOWRY (IRL), D MICHELUZZI (AUS), D BROWN (ENG), A COCKERILL (CAN), F LACROIX (FRA),
70 C JARVIS (RSA), R HOSHINO (JPN), D VAN DRIEL (NED), M MANASSERO (ITA), D FRITTELLI (RSA), A DEL REY (ESP), J SVENSSON (SWE),
71 S SHARMA (IND), D RAVETTO (FRA), J CAMPILLO (ESP), C SYME (SCO), A MERONK (POL), A SCOTT (AUS), J WINTHER (DEN), J DEAN (ENG), N H?JGAARD (DEN),
72 R MANSELL (ENG), T DETRY (BEL), D BRADBURY (ENG),
73 A ROZNER (FRA), J GUERRIER (FRA), G FORREST (SCO),
76 C HILL (SCO),
ENDS
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About the DP World Tour
The DP World Tour is the main men’s professional golf Tour of the European Tour group.
Our 2024 global schedule features a minimum of 44 tournaments in 24 different countries across three distinct phases of the season: five ‘Global Swings’ from November 2023 to August 2024; the ‘Back 9’ from September 2024 to October 2024; and the ‘DP World Tour Play-Offs’, comprising two consecutive Rolex Series events in November 2024.
Overall, the 2024 season features five Rolex Series events – the premium category of events on the DP World Tour – and four Major Championships, all of which count towards the Race to Dubai Rankings in partnership with Rolex, the Tour’s season-long competition which concludes at the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.
DP World, the leading provider of global smart end-to-end supply chain and logistics solutions, has been the title partner of the DP World Tour since the start of the 2022 season, the Tour’s 50th season following its formation in 1972.
About the European Tour group
The European Tour group is the overarching corporate brand which administers: the DP World Tour, the Challenge Tour, the Legends Tour and the G4D Tour and, along with the PGA of America, is the Managing Partner of golf’s greatest team contest, the Ryder Cup.
Established in 1972, the European Tour group is committed to ‘Driving Golf Further’ through our guiding principles of being innovative, inclusive and global.
Innovative: We are driving innovation in golf through the creation of award-winning content, pioneering tournament formats and the use of the latest technology and inventive fan engagement. We are committed to attracting new audiences whilst respecting the tradition of our sport.
Inclusive: We are committed to include all who share a love for the game of golf. We are passionate about a closer collaboration with the women’s game, golf for the disabled and promoting the many physical and mental health benefits of playing golf.
Global: Since 1972, players from 38 different countries have won tournaments on our main Tour, while our live broadcast reaches more than 490 million homes in more than 150 countries every week, generating in excess of 2,200 global broadcast hours for each event. We also enjoy the support of many of the world’s leading business brands with DP World, Rolex, BMW, Buffalo Trace Distillery, Emirates, Fortinet and Hilton as Official Partners.
The European Tour group has Strategic Alliances with the PGA TOUR, the Sunshine Tour and Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia. Those Strategic Alliances, combined with partnerships with the China Golf Association (CGA), Japan Golf Tour Organization (JGTO), the Korea Professional Golfers’ Association (KPGA), and the TATA Steel Professional Golf Tour of India, provide global pathways for players from across the world to compete internationally on the DP World Tour, the main men’s professional golf Tour of the European Tour group.
We ensure we have a positive long-term impact on the courses, countries and the communities we visit through ‘Golf for Good’, the umbrella name for the European Tour group’s commitment to ‘Driving Golf Further’ in an environmentally and socially sustainable way.
About the Rolex Series
The Rolex Series is the premium category of events on the DP World Tour, comprising five tournaments in 2024, staged in a variety of world-class golfing locations around the globe, each with a minimum prize fund of US$9 million.
Showcasing innovation, enriched media, content and broadcast coverage, and a superior event experience for both fans and for the world’s top players, the list of Rolex Series Champions includes some of golf’s most distinguished names.
The Rolex Series was launched in 2017, coinciding with the 20th anniversary of Rolex’s enduring partnership with the European Tour group.
In 2024, the Rolex Series comprises; the Hero Dubai Desert Classic (January 18-21), the Genesis Scottish Open (July 11-14) the BMW PGA Championship (September 19-22), the Abu Dhabi Championship (November 7-10) and the DP World Tour Championship (November 14-17). The latter two events comprise the DP World Tour Play-Offs and feature the leading 70 and 50 players from the Race to Dubai respectively.
About Abu Dhabi Sports Council
Abu Dhabi Sports Council (ADSC) was established in 2006 by His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the president of United Arab Emirates.
ADSC is aligned to the emirate’s leadership vision to develop sport and youth activities. The Council promotes an effective, emirate-wide sports calendar that stimulates the desire to participate in quality sports among all Abu Dhabi residents and helps the talented and motivated reach their sporting potential.
ADSC believes that global and community sporting events provide many positive opportunities, most notably the encouragement of all segments and groups of society to practice sports activities.
Vision – Abu Dhabi: An international capital for sport practicing, competitiveness, & international events.
Mission – To establish an environment that contributes towards promoting the importance of sport practicing and sport programs for all segments of the community, and to implement the best and latest international systems that promote competing at local, regional, and international levels.
A global destination for sport – Abu Dhabi Sports Council supports the organisation and hosting of many international sporting events in Abu Dhabi.
About HSBC
HSBC Holdings plc
HSBC Holdings plc, the parent company of HSBC, is headquartered in London. HSBC serves customers worldwide from offices in 60 countries and territories. With assets of US$3,099bn at 30 September 2024, HSBC is one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organisations.
About HSBC Golf Sponsorships
HSBC’s global commitment to golf encompasses all levels of the game, from grassroots to elite.
HSBC has co-title sponsored the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, which as a Rolex Series event is one of the biggest events on the DP World Tour. HSBC is also a Patron of The Open Championship and the AIG Women’s Open. This partnership with The R&A creates a centre of gravity to a golf portfolio that spans HSBC’s key markets. In Asia, HSBC spearheaded the arrival of world-class golf events where in Singapore the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore is renowned as ‘Asia’s Major’.
Underpinning these flagship events is a longer-term ambition to open up a world of opportunity through supporting through sponsorship of youth development and community initiatives. In China, the CGA-HSBC China Junior Golf Programme is a long-term structure upon which the future of Chinese golf is being built.
About Yas Island
Located on the golden shores of Abu Dhabi – just 20 minutes from downtown Abu Dhabi and 50 minutes from Dubai, Yas Island offers holidaymakers a diverse mix of leisure and entertainment experiences. From award-winning theme parks such as Ferrari World Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, Yas Waterworld Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, and Warner Bros. World™ Yas Island, Abu Dhabi to incredible attractions such as the record-breaking CLYMB™ Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, and the thrilling Yas Marina Circuit (home to the FORMULA 1 ETIHAD AIRWAYS ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX™), visitors are bound to discover a world of entertainment options all within the 25 sq. km island.
Yas Island boasts world-class shopping at Abu Dhabi’s largest mall Yas Mall, eclectic dining at Yas Marina and Yas Bay Waterfront, Abu Dhabi’s vibrant day to night attraction and award-winning golf at Yas Links golf course. The island offers a year-round line-up of spectacular musical, entertainment and family events at Etihad Arena, the Middle East’s largest indoor entertainment venue and houses ten incredible hotels, including W Abu Dhabi – Yas Island, Hilton Abu Dhabi Yas Island, and The WB™ Abu Dhabi, the world’s first Warner Bros. themed hotel. The destination also features WHITE Abu Dhabi, a one-of-a-kind multi-sensory indoor venue and more than 165 dining experiences dotting the island – complementing these attractions is a range of visitor services that connect all attractions to one another. With the opening of SeaWorld® Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, the region’s first Marine Life Theme Park, Yas Island continues to add more attractions to its incredible roster
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