Friend group: Fleetwood, Lowry among leaders at Abu Dhabi Championship

Tommy Fleetwood and Shane Lowry are part of a five-way tie atop the leaderboard after the first round of the Abu Dhabi Championship at Yas Links Golf Club on Thursday.

Playing in the opening leg of the DP World Tour playoffs, Fleetwood was bogey-free and Lowry combined nine birdies and a bogey to finish at 64 for the round.

The connection, camaraderie and competition between the European Ryder Cup teammates has become undeniable. And it's a comfort zone for Lowry, an Irishman. Paired early in the DP World India Championship last month, won by Fleetwood, Lowry shot another first-round 64 and finished third.

"I was pretty excited when I seen the group," Lowry said of the Abu Dhabi pairing. "Something about me and Tommy. But no, I just like playing with him, your friend, and really good player, too, and you kind of feed off each other. It was kind of nice."

South Africa's Richard Sterne, Kazuma Kobori of New Zealand and Adrien Saddier of France share the first-round lead. Sterne shot his best opening-round score of the calendar year, the 24-year-old Kobori put up his third sub-70 opening round in a recent four-event stretch and Saddier bounced back from a second-round 79 that left him north of the cut line at Delhi in the India event.

Seven players are within a shot of the lead and tied for sixth after opening rounds of 65: Michael Kim, Nicolai Hojgaard (Denmark), Andy Sullivan (England), Nicolai Von Dellingshausen (Germany), Nacho Elvira (Spain), Keita Nakajima (Japan) and Alex Noren (Sweden).

Fleetwood won in India two weeks ago to extend a run of success that propelled him into the top five in the Official World Golf Ranking late in the PGA Tour season. He echoed Lowry's sentiment about the natural comfort zone of pairing with friendly competitors.

"As much as you focus on your own game, and yeah, shouldn't make that much difference," Fleetwood said. "But definitely when you're in a comfortable pairing or group, yeah, it's nice. It's helpful."

Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy is 4-under-par and tied for 27th. He lamented "missed reads" on critical putts and carded an opening 68 at the DP World Tour's $9 million event.

"It could have been a lot better," McIlroy said after missing a birdie opportunity at 18 to close the first round. "I missed a lot of opportunities on the way in. I felt like I hit good putts, 12, 13, 14, 17 and then the last there. Yeah, it could have been much better. Felt like it's the worst I could have shot so I guess that's a positive in a way. Need to hole a few more of those 10- to 15-footers (Friday)."

--Field Level Media