Jordan Spieth irritated by slow play penalty

The event’s marquee group, which included the world No. 1, Rory McIlroy, and Rickie Fowler, received a warning as they approached the fourth tee that Euro Tour chief rules official John Paramor was monitoring their time.

Spieth shrugged off the controversy and displayed his renowned mental strength to birdie that concluding hole for a 68, which kept him within four of DeChambeau. If I can, I’ll try and wash it away… because it doesn’t affect this round but if I get another one, I get fined and I don’t think there was necessarily a reason to get that bad time. I have to beat another 122 guys.

“But it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense when our group had caught up with the one in front, we were coming off the clock and it had no effect on the round”. The world No1 was equally baffled by the incident, which under new European Tour guidelines will cost him €2,500 if repeated over the next three days. He was told on the ninth tee that he was receiving a “monitoring” penalty.

The third player in the group is world No6 Rickie Fowler. “I had no expectations and was just able to freewheel a little bit and that allows me to do my best”. If the 2016 Olympic tournament doesn’t go well or the participants show a lack of interest in the event, that could well be a signal to the International Olympic Committee that golf just isn’t a good fit. Over the next few seasons, they will duke it out for dominance over golf’s new order – we could be witnessing the start of one of the sport’s great rivalries.

For some pre-tournament publicity, Spieth and McIlroy were among those taking part in a “Rider Cup” challenge that included riding motorized golf scooters – so-called GolfBoards – along a fairway on a local course in the gulf emirate.

There are some major names in pursuit of the 22-year old, with Henrik Stenson only one shot behind, and McIlroy now sitting in tied third at six under. “I felt in practice last week I was swinging well and I came back mentally fresh and excited to play again”.

Asked if there was anything different in his thought process now that he is already a Major champion, Spieth replied: “I think there’s two ways of going forward with that”.

“Best start I’ve had here in years, possibly ever”, said Stenson, who logged runner-up finishes in Abu Dhabi in 2006 and 2008.

“It is nice, it is always fun to watch somebody stripe it. You see a solid shot before you hit one. And I said that doesn’t make sense, let’s make them on the same lie angle and same length”.

Unheralded American amateur Bryson Dechambeau shot an 8-under 64 to take the first-round lead. It’s the way I’ve been playing.

“But if I can drive the ball in the places that I was driving it in Kapalua and keep it in the short grass here, I feel very confident about my chances”.