A year that began with a victory in the Middle East could well end with one for Tommy Fleetwood. Firing a 10-under 62 to tie the course record at Yas Links in the first round of the 2024 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, the Englishman possesses a one-stroke lead over Thorbjørn Olesen and Johannes Veerman with Tyrrell Hatton, Robert MacIntyre and Rory McIlroy not far behind.
"I 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," Fleetwood said. "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.
"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."
Fleetwood's start consisted of three straight 3s as he played the opening stretch of the par 72 in 4 under highlighted by an eagle on the par-5 2nd. The 33-year-old took advantage of the second par 5 on the front nine a few holes later and turned in 31 before catching yet another heater to begin his inward half.
Four birdies -- all of which came from inside 12 feet -- arrived across Nos. 10-14 before another from 5 feet on the par-5 18th put the finishing touches on his course record-tying performance.
Although ultimately not an outlier on the leaderboard, Fleetwood's stellar score was a longtime coming. Since claiming the silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Fleetwood has rattled off seven straight top-25 finishes worldwide, including podium results in his last two outings at the Oden de España and Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
During this run, his ball-striking -- particularly his iron play -- has separated himself from the field while his putting has held him back from the winner's circle. Making a switch with the putter this week -- plus heeding to the advice of putting coach Phil Kenyon, Ken Brown and David Howell -- Fleetwood found his groove on the greens in Round 1.
"Through the summer, I haven't putted as well or converted as many putts as we'd have liked," Fleetwood said. "We've been working on that, and I happened to bump into Ken and Howler on the course, and we were talking about a couple of things. Working on sort of how I move my head in my stroke in a couple of practice drills and what happens there. And it's always nice to have a good discussion. They are two of the best putters I've ever met, and any time you're talking to those guys, you're always going to pick something up."
Fleetwood will need to keep dancing his way through Yas Links these next three days if he wants to convert this first-round lead into his second trophy of the season. A number of seasoned veterans lie in his wake. Hatton is humming in the right direction after posting a 64, while MacIntyre did just one worse. The largest object in his rearview mirror may be McIlroy, the man he clipped at the finish line in Dubai the kick off the year.
Going through swing changes of his own while pounding balls into an indoor screen across the last three weeks, the four-time major champion was steady with six birdies against one bogey in his opening refrain. Leading the Race to Dubai and in search of his sixth season-long crown (third in a row) come next weekend at the DP World Tour Championship, McIlroy is likely to have more to say across the next 54 holes.
"It's been a really good year -- very, very consistent," McIlroy said. "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."