The pre-tournament buzz was all about top-ranked Jordan Spieth and No. 3 Rory McIlroy, but amateur Bryson DeChambeau stole the show.
DeChambeau, the 22-year-old reigning U.S. Amateur champion from Clovis, carded an 8-under-par 64 to take a one-stroke lead over Henrik Stenson of Sweden after one round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship at Abu Dhabi Golf Club in the United Arab Emirates.
“I had no expectations coming into today and just free-wheeled it, and pretty much hit every fairway and was able to make a couple of putts,” said DeChambeau, who won the NCAA individual championship last year while at SMU and tied for second in the Australian Open in November. “It’s nice to kind of be an intern as an amateur playing professional events. I’m getting used to it and getting more comfortable each event. It’s a lot of fun being out here.
“I’m a golfing scientist, in a sense, and I’m trying to analyze and understand each and every aspect of the golf course and the way I played. I’ll analyze today and see what I can do better at tomorrow and we’ll go from there.”
Stenson. coming off knee surgery last month, held the lead for much of his round before making a bogey on his final hole, No. 9, to shoot 65 and was passed by DeChambeau, who collected seven birdies and an eagle on the eighth hole.
McIlroy, playing with Spieth and Rickie Fowler of Murrieta in the featured group, shot 66 and was tied for third with Branden Grace of South Africa, who made five birdies in the first 10 holes.
Andy Sullivan of England put up a bogey-free 67 and was tied for fifth with Richard Bland, also of England, who made his only bogey on the 17th hole.
Spieth was tied for seventh at 68 despite receiving what is called a “monitoring penalty” for slow play. It had no bearing on his score, but he will be hit with a fine of about $3,000 if it happens again.
Nobody seemed to understand it.
“It was weird,” McIlroy said. “I was surprised Jordan got a bad time on a putt when the guys behind weren’t even approaching their balls back on the fairway. Sometimes we need to apply some common sense, especially when we are not out of position. It’s not like Jordan is a slow player.”
Martin Kaymer of Germany was tied for 12th at 69, while Fowler shot 70 and was tied for 29th.
