Watch: Wind Causes Havoc At Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship
After a scoring frenzy on the first day of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, conditions considerably adjusted on Friday, with winds of 25-30mph causing havoc for the gamers on the system.
The scoring, which was all around four pictures even worse than Thursday, was only a single of the troubles at the model new venue, Yas Island, with the video clip below displaying the complications the greenkeepers faced for the duration of the 2nd round on Friday.
Welcome to a windy round of golf in the desert 🌪️#ADGolfChamps | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/5yJ2yzgoqoJanuary 21, 2022
On 1 of the courses quite a few undulating greens, the eco-friendly staff have been forced to acquire motion on the par-4 14th, with enormous quantities of sand staying blown on to the putting area, producing the blowers to come out to get rid of it.
Players like Min Woo Lee and Robert MacIntyre were being pictured struggling in the conditions, with the Scotsman stating: “I’ve never performed a golfing program that I’ve been strike by a bin bag on just before.”
He included: “we’ve just acquired to get on with this and try out our ideal. This is the hardest situations I’ve performed in due to the fact likely Royal Portrush, where I acquired two holes in The Open up like this. I think I’ve performed 3 holes where it is not been off my right aspect for me, remaining a remaining-hander, that’s the toughest wind.”
MacIntyre turns absent from blowing sand in the higher winds throughout the second round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship
(Picture credit score: Getty Photographs)
His words had been echoed by recent leader, Ian Poulter, who admitted to “backing off a couple putts” all through his level-par round of 72. “I’ve received to be sincere, you appear at the forecast and you felt the wind as strong as it was, you would have considered the ball would be going but I failed to have any balls moving on the inexperienced. So it was a shock, but you just had to dangle in there”, he extra.
A different participant who is tied with Poulter at the leading of the leaderboard is Viktor Hovland, with the younger Norwegian looking to claim his to start with Rolex Series event title. “It was a hard working day today”, he stated. “Naturally I would have preferred to have produced a few far more putts currently and I assume I could have shot below par, but it was a seriously challenging when it blowing as a lot as it is.
“It’s pretty cliché but you need persistence. You may be ready to choose up a birdie right here and there but on a working day like right now it’s constrained how a lot of probabilities you’re going to get, it can be all about type of getting hazard averse and lacking on the appropriate aspect and choosing your spots and just telling your self that it can be all right to be 50 feet absent on this hole. You just type of have to take care of that as the day goes on.”
