Shane Lowry is hoping for another strong week at the 2023 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship as he looks to build on last year's impressive performance at Yas Links Abu Dhabi.
The Irishman played alongside eventual champion Thomas Pieters in the final group on Sunday 12 months ago, but a final-round 77 saw him finish in a tie for 12th.
Lowry is aiming to be in contention once again in the closing stages this week as he looks to win this event for the second time, having first achieved the feat in 2019.
He said: "I played well here last year. I was in the last group with Thomas on Sunday. I didn't perform as best I could but, you know, put myself there.
"I like the golf course. It's a bit tricky and can get windy around here. Hopefully I can come here and have a really nice week."
Lowry heads into the tournament fresh from representing Great Britain & Ireland in the Hero Cup at Abu Dhabi Golf Club last week.
Despite being unable to deliver a point for GB&I as they suffered defeat in a close contest, Lowry played well throughout the competition and is determined to take the positives from the week as he prepares for the opening Rolex Series event of the campaign.
He said: "I felt like I played alright last week, actually, and I need to make sure that I don't lose too much confidence in the results and think about the results too much because I think if you look at my game and look at my scoring, I was actually OK.
"So I need to take that into this week."
Lowry will once again be in the company of Pieters and last week's GB&I Captain Tommy Fleetwood as he gets his campaign under way at 07.30 on Thursday morning.
