Day One of the Abu Dhabi World Championship was dominated by one man – Shane Lowry.
The Irishman hit a ten-under-par round of 62 to take the outright lead following the first round at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club.
He has a three-shot lead over South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen and Richard Sterne, France’s Mike Lorenzo-Vela and Spain’s Pablo Larrazabal.
Our golf betting expert takes the first round into consideration, and gives you his best bets to look out for in the remainder of the tournament.
Koepka to push on after solid start
American Brooks Koepka lost his spot at the top of the world ranking to Justin Rose early in the new year and is looking to get top spot back as soon as possible.
A tied third-place finish here, and presuming Rose fails to win the Desert Classic, would see him regain the place at the top of the rankings.
He has got off to a solid start with a bogey-free five-under par round of 67 and showed some promising signs despite having no form on this course after missing the cut in this event back in 2014.
As a result of today’s scores Koepka is available at 15/2 with Grosvenorsport.com and I fancy him to be there or thereabouts come Saturday’s final round and believe he is the value bet.
Fleetwood eyes back-to-back titles
The Englishman won this event in 2018, and was another to get off to a solid start, made to look all the more average by leader Lowry’s 10-under-par 62.
The Merseyside-born golfer recovered from an early bogey on the second and despite another drop shot on the 16th hole, he regrouped and picked up two birdies from the final three holes to give himself a fighting chance heading into the second round.
He’s out at 16/1 to win the tournament for a second time in succession, but with Lowry proving what is possible around Abu Dhabi, don’t rule out a charge for top spot from the 27-year-old and he provides great each-way value at his current price.
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