EThe last tournament that the captain of the European Ryder Cup team Luke Donald had played was Nedbank -in November- and he started it in second position after throwing 64 shots (-8). Today, on the opening day of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, the former number 1 in the world shone again as before and can boast of being the solo leader in Yas Links, after signing 64 strokes, although there were some players who could not finish due to lack of light.
The 45-year-old Englishman racked up four consecutive birdies to climb to the top of the standings in the morning, and no one could catch up with him in the afternoon. Donald, who was watching the Hero Cup in Abu Dhabi last week, was happy with his performance, although he joked that he doesn’t see himself being selected for his own Ryder team. “I think 1975 was the last time he elected himself a captain. But no, we’re a long way from that!”
The Italian Guido Migliozzi, winner of the French Open and with the Spanish Alberto Calvo in the bag, continues in a state of grace and is second tied with the Australian Jason Scrivener. The Molinari brothers are in fifth position. That the Ryder is in Rome and the captain is on the field has the Italian legion extra motivated.
The best Spaniards are Rafa Cabrera Bello and Santi Tarro, with 69. Pablo Larrazbal, Jorge Campillo and Ángel Hidalgo are at 70. Nacho Elvira signed the pair and Adri Arnaus 73, like Adrín Otaegui.
They also highlighted the return of Tyrrell Hatton, who signed 18 pairs, and Haotong Li’s 84 strokes.
