With Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods struggling, fifth-ranked Justin Rose and unheralded Jamie Donaldson had 5-under 67s yesterday for a one-shot lead after the opening round of the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship.
McIlroy, playing with new clubs following his multimillion dollar sponsorship deal with Nike, finished with a 3-over 75 and risks missing the cut. Woods shot a 72.
Thorbjorn Olesen of Denmark and Pablo Larrazabal of Spain finished one stroke behind the leaders.
McIllroy repeatedly missed fairways, including a shot on his 12th that hit a tree and ended up in a parking lot, leading to one of his two double bogeys. His other came when he muffed a chip in thick rough on his par-3 sixth. He also putted poorly, missing a par putt on his 17th and a birdie putt on the 18th.
The top-ranked McIlroy insisted his difficulties had more to do with rusty strokes than the new equipment that he hyped only a few days ago. While he repeatedly slumped after a bad shot or frowned following a missed putt, the 2012 European Tour and U.S. PGA Tour money winner seemed resigned to adjusting to the new Nike clubs.
“When you go out and you’ve got new stuff, you are going to be a little anxious and hopefully you play well,” McIlroy said. “But I guess I can learn from it and move on and go into tomorrow and try and play a bit better. It’s about playing yourself into the weekend.”
Woods, who was paired with McIlroy, finished a roller-coaster round at par after “grinding it out.” The 14-time major winner had four birdies and four bogeys and ended his round by three-putting his 18th for a bogey when he hit the second putt too hard.
“I’m still right there,” said the second-ranked Woods, who was five shots behind the leaders.
McIlroy had two double bogeys in a round for the first time since missing the cut last year at the Memorial in May. The 75 is the highest score the two-time major champion had shot at the National course in Abu Dhabi.
* Jason Kokrak recorded two eagles in ideal scoring conditions as he shot a 63 and charged into a three-way tie for the lead with Roberto Castro and James Hahn in yesterday’s opening round at the Humana Challenge in LaQuinta, Calif.
Phil Mickelson, a two-time former champ, struggled with his putting en route to a 72.