ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Rory McIlroy returned from a month away from competitive action and shot a 5-under 67 with a new swing in the first round of the Abu Dhabi Championship on Thursday.
It left the No. 3-ranked McIlroy four shots off the clubhouse lead held by Thorbjorn Olesen and Johannes Veerman after the early wave went out in stifling heat at Yas Links at the start of the European tour’s playoffs.
McIlroy tapped in for his sixth birdie of his round at No. 18, with his lone bogey coming after he pushed his tee shot way right at the par-3 17th and failed to get up and down from off the green.
He can clinch a sixth Race to Dubai title with a win in Abu Dhabi, ahead of the final event of the European tour season at the World Tour Championship in Dubai next week.
The Northern Irishman said Wednesday that he spent three weeks in a studio after the Dunhill Links in early October, just hitting balls at a screen with a modified swing and not even looking at the flight of his shots. He is seeking a more robust swing that can hold up in pressure-filled moments after some missed chances this season.