Rory McIlroy recaps Day 1 at Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, makes intentions for finishing his season off clear 

Rory McIlroy is competing in the first event of the DP World Tour playoffs, the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, at Yas Links Golf Club. The Northern Irish golfer has made a decent start to his campaign as he carded -5 on the opening day and is placed T18 going into the second round, while Tommy Fleetwood is leading the event at -10.

During the post-round interview, McIlroy reflected on his performance on day 1 and revealed his intentions for this week.

"I probably wasn't as imaginative out there, or I was sort of hitting very straight shots, and I hit a couple where I didn't really see the picture of what I was trying to do with the ball flight because I was thinking too much on what I was doing with the swing," McIlroy said.

Furthermore, McIlroy said he was extremely fortunate as the wind factor is minimal this week, and the wide fairways make it a bit easier off the tee.

"So I feel like I can concentrate a little bit more on what I'm trying to do with the motion. Yeah, overall, it felt pretty good today."

Continuing, Rory McIlroy revealed his plans for this week and said making a strong finish this week would make his job a lot easier next week at the DP World Tour Championship for the season-ending Race to Dubai Challenge.

"Yeah, you know, I know that if I have a really good week this week, it makes my job a lot easier next week," McIlroy concluded.

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When will Rory McIlroy tee off in the second round for the 2024 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship?

Rory McIlroy is leading the Race to Dubai rankings - Source: Getty

Rory McIlroy will tee off at 11:50 am local time (7:50 am GMT) for the second round of the 2024 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. He is paired with Thriston Lawrence and Rasmus Hojgaard and will try his best to reduce the lead and be in contention going into the weekend.

Below are the tee times of all golfers competing in the second round of the 2024 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship (all times in GMT).

• 03:17 - Johannes Veerman, Alfredo Garcia-Heredia, Jayden Schaper
• 03:28 - Richard Mansell, Matthew Baldwin, Gavin Green
• 03:39 - Alex Fitzpatrick, Yannik Paul, Shubhankar Sharma
• 03:50 - Antoine Rozner, Ewen Ferguson, Marcel Siem
• 04:01 - Min Woo Lee, Justin Rose, Niklas Norgaard
• 04:12 - Laurie Canter, David Ravetto, Nacho Elvira
• 04:28 - Julien Guerrier, Jorge Campillo, Thomas Detry
• 04:39 - Connor Syme, Casey Jarvis, Francesco Laporta
• 04:50 - Sam Bairstow, Andy Sullivan, Calum Hill
• 05:01 - Jordan Smith, Romain Langasque, Guido Migliozzi
• 05:12 - Rikuya Hoshino, Sebastian Söderberg, Joaquin Niemann
• 05:23 - Tommy Fleetwood, Robert MacIntyre, Shane Lowry
• 05:44 - Sean Crocker, Adrien Saddier
• 05:55 - Joost Luiten, David Micheluzzi
• 06:06 - Ugo Coussaud, Daniel Brown, Matthew Jordan
• 06:17 - Adrian Otaegui, Darius Van Driel, Adrian Meronk
• 06:28 - Adam Scott, Tyrrell Hatton, Matteo Manassero
• 06:39 - Dylan Frittelli, Brandon Stone, Aaron Cockerill
• 06:55 - Jeff Winther, Alejandro Del Rey, Paul Waring
• 07:06 - Frederic Lacroix, Grant Forrest, Joe Dean
• 07:17 - Dan Bradbury, Keita Nakajima, Bernd Wiesberger
• 07:28 - Thorbjørn Olesen, Tom McKibbin, Nicolai Højgaard
• 07:39 - Jesper Svensson, Angel Hidalgo, Matt Wallace
• 07:50 - Rory McIlroy, Thriston Lawrence, Rasmus Højgaard