Rickie Fowler finds radar at Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship but needs to ‘get hot’ to retain title

After an opening round 72 left him off the pace, defending champion Rickie Fowler enjoyed a "good, solid day" for his second at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club.

Rickie Fowler tees off on the seventh hole during the second round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. Andrew Redington / Getty Images

ABU DHABI // Given its place on the calendar, much has been made this week about shaking off any rust accumulated during the winter break.

It came easier to some, with Henrik Stenson and Martin Kaymer getting fast out of the blocks on Thursday at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, when they occupied the top spots on the leaderboard. The same cannot be said for Rickie Fowler. The defending champion, and hence one of the favourites coming in, disappointed with his first outing of 2017, carding a level-par 72 that included four birdies and as many bogeys.

On Friday, he admitted to succumbing to opening-night jitters.

“Feeling the nerves again on the first tee, it’s definitely something that never goes away,” the American said. “It is tough to come back off of a few weeks. Standing on the first tee yesterday, it was just kind of hit it and see where it was going to go.”

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Fowler obviously found his radar for Round 2. The world No 14 posted a four-under par 68 that was blotted a little by his day’s only bogey, on 17. Yet he saw enough positives from four consecutive birdies around the turn to feel like his season is up and running. Finally.

“Today was better,” said Fowler, who also rued missing out on birdieing the par-5 18th. “Got off to a great start. Good, solid day. Would have been nice to finish the last two holes off a bit better, but happy we are on to the weekend.

“Obviously left myself up against the wall yesterday to make sure I got into the weekend. Happy about that. We’ll keep building on that.”

Building might be the only thing he can hope to do. Tied-37th, Fowler trails Kaymer by eight shots at the halfway stage, a task not made any easier by the fact the German, his playing partner the first two days, is already a three-time winner in Abu Dhabi.

To use his own parlance, Fowler knows he needs to “get hot” on Saturday if he is to keep hold of the Falcon Trophy.

“Obviously Martin has had success here and he’s off to a good start,” Fowler said. “I’m going to have to get to at least the mid- to high-teens to have a chance. So we’ll see. I’m going to need a good one tomorrow, just to put myself in a decent position.”

Ditto for compatriot Dustin Johnson. The reigning US Open champion, at world No 3 the highest-ranked player in the field, also sits at four-under for the tournament, after a 68 to match Fowler on Friday.

“Even par was about the worst I could have shot yesterday,” Johnson said. “I didn’t make one putt. So I knew as long as I played halfway decent today, I was going to get right back in there.

“After two days, the par 5s, I played eight of them at even par, no birdies. Over the weekend, I really need to take advantage of them.”

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