Woods and McIlroy downplay burgeoning rivalry

After the snap and crackle of the early part of the week here, time to pop down and watch some golf. The ephemera of sponsorship deals and captaincy dramas dealt with, the now traditional early-season Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship pipe-opener gets under way this morning with a decent and deep field in attendance.

Six of the world’s top 25 players are here – and 15 of the top 50 – with obvious headline acts in the shape of Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods.

There are others as well, not that you’re likely to hear very much about them while the world number one and two are out on the course.

Everyone from the organisers to the sponsors to the press have been so enamoured of the fact both Woods and McIlroy have taken their place in the field the temptation to light a little fire under a putative rivalry between the pair has been resisted by almost nobody.

Both men endured lengthy cajoling to let slip even the tiniest dog of war when they took to their pre-tournament press conferences on Tuesday yet neither of them bit.

The closest they came – and it wasn’t close at all – was when Woods agreed with McIlroy’s contention it was far too early to call what they have together a rivalry, for the simple reason they haven’t run into each other at the business end of a tournament yet.

“Over the course of my career, I’ve gone head-to-head against, I think, Ernie [Els] and Vijay [Singh] the most over the course of my career. That’s happened, what over 17 years, something like that.

“But it takes time. And certainly I think that Rory and I have done it once at the Honda. But you know, we haven’t really had the amount of matches that are head-to-head duels that I’ve had with Phil [Mickelson] and Vijay and Ernie.

“But then again, it’s only been a few years, so let’s just give it time and see how it pans out.”

Misconstrued

It’s hard to see how that perfectly reasonable summation of their standing could be misconstrued and yet there was still the odd “Tiger Dismisses Rory As Rival” headline around and about. And so the pot boils.

They’re far from the only show in town all the same. Justin Rose gets his year under way in a tournament he’s never got around to playing in before, as does the understated American Jason Dufner.

Peter Hanson, Francesco Molinari and Paul Lawrie bring the quota from last year’s winning Ryder Cup team up to five and three-time winner of the tournament Martin Kaymer rounds it out to the neat half-dozen.

McIlroy heads a large Irish contingent that includes newly-named Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley and erstwhile contender for the job at Gleneagles next year, Darren Clarke. Pádraig Harrington, Peter Lawrie,Shane Lowry, Michael Hoey, and Damien McGrane and Gareth Maybin will also be teeing off today.

Kaymer did a bit of aw-shucksing yesterday when he pointed out that alongside winning the tournament multiple times, he has also missed the cut twice.

Yet there is no denying it is a course and a competition that suits him. Based in Arizona, he plays a lot of desert golf through the winter and usually arrives at this tournament with a game suited to the conditions.

“I like coming here to a golf course I really like and have been successful on, I never really have to play against my feel. That’s very rare, to be able to go and really feel very comfortable on every hole. Well, not every hole – there are a couple where I’m not that happy about the tee box. But in general, it’s a golf course I’m happy on.”

Good form

Kaymer finished last year in good form, trousering €940,000 in the 12-man Nedbank Challenge in South Africa in December. But you have to go back to the HSBC Champions event in China in November 2011 for his last tour win.

Outside of the leading pair, somebody like Rose or Dufner might well be a better shout for this. Or Harrington, who has finished in the top five here in the past and was showing a return to some decent form in South Africa last week.

HSBC Golf Championship The lowdown

Course: Abu Dhabi Golf Club, South Africa.

Length: 7,600 yards. Par: 72. Field: 126.

Prizemoney: €2.02 million (€336,725 to the winner).

Layout: A desert course which despite being one of the longer ones on tour does give up a lot of birdies each year. A sign of how welcoming the professionals find its wide fairways and flat layout is the fact that 20-under-par wouldn't have won three out of the last four stagings. It's a course that favours the big drivers, as long as they're accurate with it as there is a lot of water around.

The par-three 12th is its most famous hole. Guarded by a long lake to the front and with a huge rock wall as an imposing backdrop, it's a 186-yard hole that calls for a lot of nerve off the tee.

Last year: Robert Rock was the surprise winner, holding out on the final day from a stellar pack that included, Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods and Graeme McDowell all within two shots.

Type of player suited to the course: You need to be long off the tee and you need to be deadly with the putter. Between them, Martin Kaymer and Paul Casey have won five of the last seven here. McIlroy has been runner-up twice.

Key attribute: Length

Weather forecast: A windy start will give way to sunny and calm conditions throughout the tournament.

Time difference: Abu Dhabi is four hours ahead of Ireland.

On TV: Sky Sports 1 from 6am  today