Shane Lowry has revealed the secret behind his incredible prowess playing in the wind - he thinks less.
On a day of high winds when scoring was extremely difficult at Yas Links, the 2019 Open Champion carded a level-par 72 that left him at five under and moved him up the leaderboard at the 2022 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
The Irishman - who won his first Rolex Series title at this event in 2019 - is renowned for his links play and, while he revealed he did not prefer playing in the wind, he did disclose his mindset in gusting conditions.
"I don't love it, I'd prefer if it was calm but I know how to play in those conditions," he said.
"I knew going out this morning that I'd be OK, I knew that I could just go out and play my game and do my thing.
"Because it's in the wind I think about it a lot less and I just hit the shots I see and that's what makes me so good in the wind, I think: I just play with a lot of feel and it works.
"I think you just need to make sure you're probably taking a bit off your swing speed, I nudge the ball back a little bit in my stance.
"I tee it up the same height with my driver but I just really feel like I'm trying to trap it, trying to hit down on it but with less speed because if you hit down on it with too much speed it'll just spin up.
"I hit a few nice drives, low draws there today and it was pretty good, I just kind of aimed down the right and back in my stance a little bit and just an 85% swing and swing through it."
Because it's in the wind I think about it a lot less and I just hit the shots I see and that's what makes me so good in the wind, I think
The 34-year-old made a birdie on the 12th on day two and while he dropped shots on the 16th, third and fifth, he responded with back-to-back birdies from the sixth.
"I played OK," he said. "I feel like I didn't really have my A-game in the wind today that I normally would. I hit some loose shots that generally would be better but it was just so tough out there, so tough, every part of it.
"Putting was probably the hardest thing but I'm absolutely thrilled with 72, to be honest.
"First tournament of the year, I was happy with five under yesterday and I'm happy with level par today
"It was decent today and hopefully it's not going to be as windy at the weekend but it'll still be blustery."
