Round 1 Highlights | 2025 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship

Highlights from the opening round of the 2025 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, where Tommy Fleetwood, Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry impressed at Yas Links.

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The DP World Tour Play-Offs get under way this week with a stellar field assembled at Yas Links for the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. After 40 events across five continents and 27 countries covering five Global Swings and the Back 9 we have reached the DP World Tour Play-Offs. We have so far seen 35 different winners, with 19 lifting a DP World Tour trophy for the first time. Race to Dubai Rankings leader McIlroy arrives at Yas Links looking for a seventh Harry Vardon Trophy and fourth in a row but he may well not have it all his own way in the UAE. Three-time winner this season Marco Penge is his nearest challenger and it’s very much game on. McIlroy may take the headlines but with all of the top 18 in the Race to Dubai Rankings and 66 of the top 70 on display, he will have to overcome an elite field to finally get his hands on the trophy at an event where he has nine top threes from 13 appearances. Seven of his Ryder Cup team-mates tee it up including Tommy Fleetwood and Robert MacIntyre, both of whom are also currently in the top ten on the Official World Golf Ranking. It’s All To Play For.

Welcome to the Official YouTube channel of the DP World Tour. Every week you can find extended tournament highlights and individual player highlights from the likes of Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose and Tommy Fleetwood. This is also the home of the 14 Club Challenge, Little Interviews, Fastest Hole and many more challenges, pranks and world record attempts featuring the biggest golfers in the world.

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God, I hope he spins this. All right, drum roll. All right, call starts one zero. So, walked on the ball. Oh, that’s good from Manhattan. Oh, wow. Fairway bunker. Finds a fairway bunker. You think bit of a missed shot. Comes back with that in the rough. Is that the mini driver? No, it’s just a ninewood. That would be There we go. He was almost on the metal with that, Tommy. That’s going to go the same way. I think just stay up. Might do might stay up. Come back down. Good putt. Very good putt. Yeah, Fleetwood are three under. Different proposition here for Larry from just over 160 yards. Oh boy. Oh boy. How good is that? How good is that? This at five. Second shot after a string of pars to here. That changed things in for an eagle too. Does he like it? It’s a perfect eight iron. Absolutely perfect. Great face control there. About a 45minute drive or so from home. He’s staying in his own bed and he’s uh playing beautifully out there. Yes, far 43 third out of position. Maroy down the right hand side. 10 back right off a down slope. Just about perfection for Maroy. That’s what the greats do. That’s what the greats do. They have this moment of brilliance. I mean that iron shot from a downhill lie to a tight pin. 130 yards to go here for Hatton. Was that is that was that neutral or was that neutral? I think it’s very neutral. So good. Looked good all the way, didn’t it? This is impressive stuff from Tommy Fleetwood. That’s three birdies in four holes around the turn. Fleetwood. Can I find one more? The greens really are perfect surfaces if you hit it online. Really impressive golfing family. His sister Amoa great pro as well. This for eagle and pours it in. That is a big jump at 10 and 11. Another par three. This for birdie ahead of Tommy Fleetwood to go one clear of them all. Looking good. Looking good. Enjoying traveling around the world with the word the world with Hugo. Work from home. That that works well, doesn’t it? Get the laptop out. Bit of work on your travels. Lots of traveling for the South Africans on tour. And that one travels in for Jaden Schaper. What a shot. has made it onto the 18th green. This for an eagle. Big swing off the right. [Music] Is that going to come back? Oh, what a way to finish today at 8 under pass. 64 29 on the front, 35 on the back. Grandstand finish. Sometimes when it drifts off, go up to 14. Shane Lowry. Look at the lies this week. How tight they are on the Paspalum grass. And that’s one for the photo book. Kick in birdie coming next to join Tommy Fleetwood. That sounded all right as well. There’s your answer. There is your answer. Who’s longest? Of course, it’s Mroy. Yeah, he definitely gave that a little bit extra, didn’t he, Rory? There we go. An easy birdie in the end for Mroy Kavori on this 14th. That was a lovely hole 14. It’s risk and reward and he knocks another one in. It’s a lovely little par four down the water. Trying to find his at 11, the par five. and he probably will because he is one of the best putters in the game. He’s hit some beautiful iron shots out there today. In fact, everything’s been beautiful really for Fleetwood. Serene progress and it’s another gem. Just what the doctor ordered. Bird in the L to get it to three. This two parts to get it to four and he’s right where he wants to be. Beautiful P. Back over to 16 and Tommy Fleetwood to tie the lead. Shelling peas, isn’t it for Tommy at the moment? It’s impressive stuff. Eight birdies, not a bogey on the card as he joins Sterny at the top. 183 here for Ludvig. plus one. Birdied the first but struggled since then. No struggling there. Oh, thank you very much. Into the red. Very nice indeed. And in for an ace for Ludvig. A little bit into the wind. This is just trusting the number. just got a little bit unlucky with that first bounce cuz it would have been stoned dead. Now this for Shane Lowry to join the top of the leaderboard here in Abu Dhabi which he does some stellar golf from both he and playing partner Tommy Fleetwood out there. A mere formality, but he’s making it a little bit of a habit. Tommy Fleetwood. Both fast starts here at Yaz lengths like he did 12 months ago with a 62. This time it is a 64 and also winning this season. He looks like he just flirted with a divot on the 16th fairway. It’s a beautiful second shot into 16 with the water. Oh, look at this. Look at this. What are these splitting together? Seven under now. one of this to go eight like a fair bit of break here outside right and he’s got it. He’s just cruising along. Magnificent. Jammed it in there. got all the spin he needed which affords him this for the outright lead. Few blades of grass away from it perhaps but it is still a blemishfree 64 with six birdies on the card as well as an eagle for Kazuma Kabori along the waterway if you will. It’s been pulled up out of the earth. Sullivan very nearly a three. Would have been one way to tie the lead so it could use some red to Oberg. Oh, it’s a nice little highlight reel out there for Lvig today. Wrap that one up in the hole in one. Little down slope. That’s great. It’ll flatten it out naturally if he wants to bail out and catch a slope on the right. Stay on the green. But all the shots he’s hitting today, he isn’t happy with. But that’s making me sick because you’re hitting it to 18 ft to stop it. You wouldn’t back against him holding this. When Josh Ant-Man interviews this guy, which I’m sure he will, I will be so interested to hear what he says about the way he’s played today. One bounce and stick it. Just I mean and the guy’s just silly good from there, isn’t it? Like he’s winged and winded all the way up this fairway. Should get this up and down for an up and down which it looks like it might just be down the last for Mroy. Eagle that came at two. Three bogeies along the way too. It’s going to be one more for Rory Maroy. Round of 68. Knowing where the pins are, how you can get out of jail if you make an error. 152 the number into this 12th hole. Bit of assist with the breeze now. Picking up as Wayne was telling us. So little less club than some of the earlier players hit in. Very well judged. The final event of the year. Another gem from Oberg. Was my player of the year in some ways, Adrian Sadier. He’s It’s just the year of his life. You’re looking at me strangely. 30 for glass whatever you’ve been having. There’s a nice shot into this 14 from S8 on the pro side and the pro results with another birdie. Look at that. There he nudges to the top. Maybe he is the player of the year. All rally. Bob slightly too much club. He does like digging down for these. Putting maximum spin on. Go on. Dig in. Lovely. Yeah, right on quue for Alex Norin. Well done. [Music] Thank you. Quite fancying Richard Sterny or Kabori to be honest. It go well this week. So days end. That’s how it looks. Five on top in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. Tommy bogey-free 64 out there today. Give us an assessment of your round. Very good. Uh played well. Was very very good off the tea and I think I made some good decisions off the tea. Felt felt very comfortable with the shots that I chose and I hit. Um you know, put it well. I think I made a big par save on 12 and followed that with a birdie which was I think a crucial part of the round if it’s going to be a very very good round. Um yeah did a lot of things well like very happy it’s Thursday you can obviously play your way out of it but you can’t win it but um eight under is a really nice way to start. You did say to me yesterday that you’d never quite worked out yes links is there something specific today that maybe clicked? No, not really. I had a great first round last year as well so I’m aware of that but I I just trying to play the golf course. Have respect for the course. So, I think we had it in the best conditions we were going to have it today. Um, you know, as receptive it’s probably going to play as it’s going to play and it was pretty calm early on. Um, but yeah, just trying to continue to play the course kind kind of like I said, I feel like I made good decisions off the tea today. I, you know, I hit the ball in the right place. Um, yeah, is it’s that kind of course. It’s it can bite you at any time really. So, um, like I’m enjoying it. I think it’s a very good test and uh like there’s a low score out there if you play well but equally you’ve still got to hit the ball and you still got to do the right things and love that about the course and yeah just look forward to tomorrow different test tomorrow we’ll see what we can do. You mentioned enjoying it there. Did it help having Shane there in your group fellow Ryder Cup good friend too? Yeah again like you know very lucky like what a comfortable like three uh three ball you know like so close to both the guys Ryder Cup teammates played with Raz last week. Um, so yeah, it was it was great like just you know, you all go out there and you do your thing. Um, and you’re just very comfortable in each other’s company. So yeah, that that always as much as you you know, you focus on your own game and yeah, shouldn’t it don’t make that much difference, but definitely when you’re in a comfortable pairing, uh, or grouping, um, yeah, it’s it’s it’s nice. It’s helpful. Tommy, brilliant start. Thanks a lot. Thank you. Thanks, Shane. 64 3232 to start your week here. Try and give us a description of your day out there. Yeah, it was nice. Um, see I was pretty excited when I seen the group, my parent today and it was nice to go out there with the two boys. Um, I felt like I played I played lovely in the pro on yesterday. So I was pretty kind of confident coming in and uh yeah, it was nice nice to play well. I was going to ask about being paired with Tommy. Does that just help you make you feel a bit more relaxed out there? Yeah, I think so. I was paired them in India the first two days and I shot 64 the first day as well. So uh yeah, something about me and Tommy, but no, I I just like playing with, you know, playing with your friends and especially really good players too. So, it’s uh you kind of feed off each other and it was nice. What aspect of your game are you happy about the most? I roll the ball well on the greens. I missed one short put for par, but it was tricky and uh I felt like I I uh hit my irons great and I gave myself a lot of chances and I roll a few puts in. Like I hold the post that I should have today. 2019 you won this championship and you hear you’ve got a really good record too this course. What is it about this place? I have a great record without having a great finish here. Yeah, I do want to mention first three days here the last few years that you’ve been in the final group a few times here on Sunday. Watching I watched Paul Wearing win here last year, remember watching Thomas Peters win here. So, uh yeah. Um I don’t know. I just like the place. It’s just, you know, the condition of it is amazing and I just see my way around here pretty well and and hopefully I can put four rounds together this week. Shane, great start to the week. I’d love to watch another DP World Tour video, click here. And to subscribe, click here.