HSBC Golf Championship: McIlroy primed for season opener in Abu Dhabi
Five-time major champion to team up with Spieth, Fowler
McIlroy has finished runner-up in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship four times in eight starts. PHOTO: REUTERS
ABU DHABI:
Former world number one Rory McIlroy said he was excited to start his new season in the company of the reigning world number one Jordan Spieth.
Five-time major champion McIlroy, and the current Masters and US Open champion Spieth have been paired together for the first two rounds of the $2.7million Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, the first event of the European Tour’s Desert Swing.
The third player in the group is world number six Rickie Fowler.
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McIlroy is playing his first tournament of 2016 — after a gap of almost two months since winning the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai in November — and he was relishing the prospects of being pushed into a pitched battle straightaway.
“On Thursday morning, it’s my first competitive shot in a couple of months,” said McIlroy. “To tee up alongside those guys is exciting. There’s a buzz about it.”
McIlroy was confident that the extended break, and the laser surgery of his eyes, is going to help him on the golf course in what is shaping up to be an exceptionally busy year with the Olympics and Ryder Cup on the card.
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The Northern Irishman has finished runner-up in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship four times in eight starts. For Spieth, it will be his debut in the UAE capital.
Spieth hungry for more success
Now that Spieth has won two majors, the top-ranked golfer said he is desperate to add to that tally in order to ensure that his name goes down prominently in the history books.
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It will be a busy year for Spieth, who is determined to win an Olympic gold medal and help America win the Ryder Cup later in September in Hazeltine, apart from winning a few more tournaments.
Asked if there was anything different in his thought process now that he is already a major champion, Spieth said, “I want my name to go down in history for as many things as it can. That’s where my mind is. I’m less satisfied with what’s happened and more hungry to try and keep it going.”
Published in The Express Tribune, January 21st, 2016.
Former world number one Rory McIlroy said he was excited to start his new season in the company of the reigning world number one Jordan Spieth.
Five-time major champion McIlroy, and the current Masters and US Open champion Spieth have been paired together for the first two rounds of the $2.7million Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, the first event of the European Tour’s Desert Swing.
The third player in the group is world number six Rickie Fowler.
Golf’s Olympic inclusion garners mixed reactions
McIlroy is playing his first tournament of 2016 — after a gap of almost two months since winning the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai in November — and he was relishing the prospects of being pushed into a pitched battle straightaway.
“On Thursday morning, it’s my first competitive shot in a couple of months,” said McIlroy. “To tee up alongside those guys is exciting. There’s a buzz about it.”
McIlroy was confident that the extended break, and the laser surgery of his eyes, is going to help him on the golf course in what is shaping up to be an exceptionally busy year with the Olympics and Ryder Cup on the card.
Hamza Amin becomes first Pakistani to play Australian Open golf tournament
The Northern Irishman has finished runner-up in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship four times in eight starts. For Spieth, it will be his debut in the UAE capital.
Spieth hungry for more success
Now that Spieth has won two majors, the top-ranked golfer said he is desperate to add to that tally in order to ensure that his name goes down prominently in the history books.
Munir claims Pakistan Golf Open
It will be a busy year for Spieth, who is determined to win an Olympic gold medal and help America win the Ryder Cup later in September in Hazeltine, apart from winning a few more tournaments.
Asked if there was anything different in his thought process now that he is already a major champion, Spieth said, “I want my name to go down in history for as many things as it can. That’s where my mind is. I’m less satisfied with what’s happened and more hungry to try and keep it going.”
Published in The Express Tribune, January 21st, 2016.