ABU DHABI // The first time it happened, it was viewed as an amusing accident.
On the second day, it seemed more like serial choreography. Either way, it was downright confusing for some at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.
Inside and outside the ropes.
For the second round in succession, the rising European Tour players Thorbjorn Olesen and Tommy Fleetwood played in the same threesome and looked more like members of the same college golf team, coordinated in matching attire nearly from head to toe, down to their white leather belts.
Both have similar physical stature, too. If that sounds a tad confusing, imagine how Paul McGinley, the third member of the trio and the reigning European Ryder Cup captain, felt.
“Paul couldn’t get it right,” Fleetwood said, laughing. “He’d say, ‘Nice shot, Tommy.’ No, that was Thorbjorn.”
Both players are on the Nike staff, and it is not unusual for manufacturers to send clothes to players to be worn in a certain sequence. Nobody could have envisioned that the two would be grouped, of course. They wore matching blue outfits Friday after looking like clones in peach in the opening round.
“We’re scripted,” Fleetwood said of the attire. “We’re in harmony.”
Fleetwood found a way to distinguish himself from Olesen, a 24-year-old Dane who finished second at Abu Dhabi Golf Club last year. The Englishman, 22, shot a seven-under 65 and leaped into the top 10.
“It was nice to have a bit of a laugh out there and get the captain confused,” Fleetwood said.
McGinley admitted to getting his wires crossed.
“Two days in a row in the same clothes,” he said, rolling his eyes.
Said Fleetwood, laughing: “I still don’t think he knows who’s who.”
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