Rory McIlroy was happy to have been able to keep a close eye on Thriston Lawrence and Rasmus Højgaard as he made a strong start in his pursuit of closing out a sixth Race to Dubai title at Yas Links.
The Northern Irishman knows a victory at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship this week will put him level with the late, great Seve Ballesteros and two behind Colin Montgomerie, who has a record eight Harry Vardon trophies.
But while he is comfortably clear in the season-long standings that determine the European Number One, there are increased points on offer at the DP World Tour Play-Offs which culminate with the season-ending DP World Tour Championship.
So, with that in mind, McIlroy was pleased to have opened with a five-under-par 67 in front of his two closest challengers for the title of European Number One.
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“I know that if I have a really good week this week, it makes my job a lot easier next week," he said.
“Honestly, it's nice to be paired with Thriston and Rasmus because you can sort of keep an eye on what they are doing, as well.”
McIlroy has been a picture of consistency this season, winning the Hero Dubai Desert Classic for a record fourth time in January and registering a further six top tens, including three runner-up finishes.
“I wanted to come here to the Middle East these two weeks and finish the season off the way I felt it deserves to be finished off,” he added.
But even though he has again been the stand-out player on the DP World Tour, the World Number Three is always working to improve.
In his pre-tournament press conference, he revealed he spent the last few weeks since his last appearance at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship working on his swing in a studio.
With his priority in that time being to make his swing more “efficient”, McIlroy focused on the shape of his swing rather than his ball flight and he was happy with the initial signs of his efforts in competition play.
“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,” said McIlroy.
“Overall, I'm quite fortunate that it's a nice week to come back because there's not too much wind. It's pretty wide off the tee.
“So, I feel like I can concentrate a little bit more on what I'm trying to do with the motion. Overall, it felt pretty good today.”
Højgaard, who pipped McIlroy to win the Amgen Irish Open in September, bettered his fellow European with a 66 that featured two eagles as he looks to close out a strong campaign.
A five-time winner on the DP World Tour, the Dane is keeping his focus solely on performing to his best over the double header in the United Arab Emirates rather than looking too far ahead as dual membership on both sides of the Atlantic beckons.
“The events are that big and that prestigious that winning one of these is huge,” he said.
“Obviously the PGA TOUR card would be great, but I think the tournaments are big, and that's what you concentrate on
“It's a big challenge [to catch McIlroy] but listen, these are two big events, a lot can happen. But at the same time, I just focus on my game.”
