Fleetwood equals course record to lead in Abu Dhabi

Tommy Fleetwood birdied the last to equal the Yas Links course record and lead after the opening round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

A ten-under-par 62 gave Fleetwood a one-shot advantage over Denmark's Thorbjørn Olesen and American Johannes Veerman.

The World Number ten came flying out of the blocks with birdies at the first and third either side of an eagle from eight feet at the second.

Further gains followed at the seventh, tenth, 11th and 13th – all of them from inside ten feet during a wonderful display of ball-striking.

It looked like the Englishman would better Sam Valimaki's record 62 when he holed from 12 feet for another gain on the 14th, but chances came and went at the 15th and 16th before Fleetwood was forced to scramble a par on the short 17th after finding sand from the tee.

A superb second to the par-five last did not get the deserved result as Fleetwood's ball rolled into a greenside bunker, but the Ryder Cup star held his nerve to convert from five feet for birdie and the outright lead.

Fleetwood said: "I got off to a great start, I actually didn't feel like I swung it perfectly early on and I felt like I swung it better as we got into the back nine.

Fleetwood has a new putter in his bag this week and also took advice from former Ryder Cup players David Howell and Ken Brown prior to the tournament.

"I always feel like I'm a good putter - it doesn't always show - but I've been working on that and I chatted to Ken and Howler on the course and we were talking about a couple of things," he added.

Olesen birdied the first after a stunning approach to within three feet and added a tap-in gain at the fifth before pitching in for eagle at the par-five seventh.