Who joined Tommy Fleetwood in changing equipment in Abu Dhabi?

By Mathieu Wood

The Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship has often been an event where players implement new equipment on the DP World Tour, and that is again the case this week despite its new date on the schedule.

Since the start of 2021, it has marked the first strokeplay event of the calendar year on the DP World Tour and been where many of the leading worldwide stars have begun their campaigns after a break working behind the scenes to fine-tune their chances for success.

But the process to make on-course marginal gains never stops, with several players opting to make changes to their bag for the start of the season-ending DP World Tour Play-Offs.

Most noticeably, first-round leader Tommy Fleetwood is one of eight players in the 70-strong field at Yas Links known to be using a new putter through equipment data gathered by Sporting Insights.

After a four-week break from competition, the Englishman switched to a prototype TaylorMade putter which he helped design and gained over three strokes on the greens.

Using a TaylorMade Truss Soto-TP, he hit 17 of 18 greens and needed just 26 putts as he made eight birdies and an eagle in a flawless 62 that tied the course record of Sami Välimäki on Thursday.

After a four-week break from competition, the Englishman switched to a prototype TaylorMade putter which he helped design and gained over three strokes on the greens.

Using a TaylorMade Truss Soto-TP, he hit 17 of 18 greens and needed just 26 putts as he made eight birdies and an eagle in a flawless 62 that tied the course record of Sami Välimäki on Thursday.

“I putted amazing,” he said in his post-round interview after opening a one-shot lead over Thorbjørn Olesen and Johannes Veerman. “Felt like I read the greens so well.

“Beautiful pace control and hit a lot of good putts and started holing them. It worked even all the way through to the last hole, I just hit perfect putts.”

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· Fleetwood equals course record to lead in Abu Dhabi

· Fleetwood hopes putting tips pay dividends as he brings in new putter

Another player to make a switch in putter was fellow Rolex Series winner Min Woo Lee as the three-time DP World Tour winner brought into play an Odyssey Giraffe-Beam 7.

While the Australian was towards the lower regions of the field for Strokes Gained: Putting, the Australian was one of 34 players to avoid a three-putt as he carded a 69 to sit seven adrift of early pacesetter Fleetwood after a day of low-scoring.

In Photos: Fleetwood and Lee's new putters

Matt Wallace and Angel Hidalgo – both winners on the DP World Tour this season – were among the other players to have new putters in use, along with Adrien Saddier, Richard Mansell, Alex Fitzpatrick and Connor Syme.

But it wasn’t just on the greens that some players were seen with a new arsenal at their disposal.

Shane Lowry, who began with a 69 as he played alongside Fleetwood, has a near new set of Srixon clubs in play, except for his five wood and putter.

And fellow Major champion Justin Rose, another winning member of the 2023 European Ryder Cup team, also finished the day at three under as he swapped his cavity back four and five iron for Titleist blades to help him avoid having the feeling of losing the ball to the right.

While they may not have reaped the same immediate impact of those changes as Fleetwood, both will be hoping it serves them well over the double header in the United Arab Emirates and beyond as the DP World Tour Championship brings the Race to Dubai season to a close next week.