Kaymer Leads Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship; McIlroy Three Back


Martin Kaymer fired an 8-under 64 to take a one-stroke lead after 18 holes of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship. The event, the fourth in the European Tour's young season, got underway Thursday at Abu Dhabi Golf Club in the United Arab Emirates.

Kaymer, a three-time winner of the tournament and the reigning U.S. Open champion, carded 10 birdies - six on the back nine - and two bogeys. He previously won in 2008, '10 and '11 and was runner-up in '09.

The 30-year-old German owed his fine start to excellent all-round play. "I putted well. I made 10 birdies," he told the European Tour's website. "I'm not sure if I have ever done it on a golf course, hit 10 birdies. I hit a lot of fairways, my irons were quite sharp and I putted well.

"It's very difficult to shoot a bad score when you play like this," the Dusseldorf native added. "Now the goal is not to compare myself tomorrow to the round what happened today. Tomorrow will be a new start but it's a brilliant start to a great tournament."

Belgium's Thomas Pieters also had an outstanding outing, posting eight birdies and a lone bogey for a 65 and solo second. "It was nice to start out the season with a 7-under, so, I'm happy. I like the greens here," the 22-year-old said.

Tied for third after 66s are France's Alexander Levy and Gregory Bourdy, England's Tyrrell Hatton, Finland's Mikko Ilonen and South Africa's Branden Grace.

No. 1-ranked Rory McIlroy made his first start of 2015 and it went well. The 25-year-old Northern Irishman recorded a 67 and shares eighth with Swedes Alex Noren and Robert Karlsson, Americans Rickie Fowler and Peter Uihlein, and South Korean Byeong-hun An.

McIlroy and partners Fowler and Italy's Matteo Manassero began play on the 10th tee. After going out in even-par off a birdie and a bogey, McIlroy jump-started his round by executing a brilliant wedge shot from the lip of a fairway bunker on the par-4 third hole (his 12th) for the first of five birdies in six holes.

"I was just trying to get it on the green," McIlroy said about the 95-yard shot from an awkward stance. "From looking like going 1-over to finishing 5-under, I'm very happy.

"It's definitely a boost. It's not a shot I would practice too much, that's for sure," added the two-time major winner in 2014. "But from looking like you're going to make a bogey to making a birdie that gives you a little bit of momentum and you can go on from there and luckily I was able to make a few birdies after that."

Playing in his first Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, Fowler acquitted himself well with six birdies and a bogey.

Defending champion Pablo Larrazabal opened with a 71, the same mark as 2011 Masters' champion Charl Schwartzel.

Other scores included a 76 by No. 2-ranked Henrik Stenson, a 73 by 2013 Abu Dhabi winner Jamie Donaldson, a 70 by four-time major champion Ernie Els, a 73 by No. 6 Justin Rose, and a 71 by Andy Sullivan, the winner in last week's South African Open,.

The shots of the day came from England's Tom Lewis and the ageless Spaniard, Miguel Angel Jiménez, who got holes-in-one on the par-3 seventh and 15th, respectively.

The ace by the 51-year-old Jimenez, who finished with a 72, was the eighth in his European Tour career. "It's very nice when you make a hole-in-one," said Jimenez, a 21-time winner in Europe. "I'm happy I finished level-par today."

For all the scores, visit http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2015/tournamentid=2015002/leaderboard/index.html.