No rust here: Jon Rahm sits T-2 after bogey-free opening round in Abu Dhabi

In his first competitive round since the birth of his fourth child, Jon Rahm displayed no signs of rust.

The 31-year-old Spaniard put together a bogey-free, 7-under 65 at Yas Links during Thursday’s opening round of the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship. He carded five birdies on his front nine and finished birdie-birdie on the final two holes.

He dominated the course’s longer holes, gaining three strokes at the four par-5s. The first of which came after a tremendous approach shot with his 5-iron from the fairway at the par-5 second hole.

“Sometimes when your expectation is a little lower than usual, where I just kept thinking, listen, if we have a bad day, we have a bad day,” said Rahm, who earlier in the week noted he had limited preparation given the birth of his child and that his home course in Arizona had become overseeded.

“But I just kind of took it one shot at a time, made a couple beautiful swings early on, great second shot on 2, and that kind of got things going … gave me some good confidence,” he added.

The first of two DP World Tour playoff events saw Francesco Laporta jump out to an early lead at 10 under, three strokes better than Rahm and a contingent of others who sit T-2 entering Friday’s second round.

Laporta’s opening round 62 came close to breaking the course record set by Paul Waring in 2024 (61).

For his part Rahm said got away with a couple of bad swings, notably at the par-4 third and the par-5 11th — the only 500-plus yard hole he did not birdie during Round 1.

“The highlight today was my iron game — very good with the irons, and gave myself plenty of chances and obviously holed a few,” he said.

“I think sometimes it helps to not be overly aggressive,” he added. “On the hole like 10, I think it’s easy to maybe want to hit driver, but not quite comfortable with the lines, just lay it out, but giving myself a chance. And overall just trust in your feel more than what you’ve seen in the past. It can be a blessing.”

In addition to Rahm, Bernd Wiesberger and Sam Bairstow sit T-2 after posting opening round 65s.

Bairstow was the first player out of the clubhouse having qualified for the tournament after 11 players in the top 70 decided not make the trip to Abu Dhabi.

“I was on the flight over here, and I got the message that I was playing,” said Bairstow, who put together a bogey-free round and has finished T-20 in three of his last four events. “I think where I am, you sort of just go at it and see what happens, really. It’s either play well or I don’t.”

No rust here: Jon Rahm sitsAbu Dhabi Aldar Championship – Rd 2The Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship is underway at Yas Links in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Leader in ‘video game’ mode

As for Laporta, he also got in without committing an error on the round. He birdied four holes on both his front nine and back nine, as well as an eagle at the par-5 7th hole.

“Everything was just going like a video game,” the Italian told reporters. “Just hitting shots straight and making some putts and just giving myself opportunities and I made it, so I’m very happy about that.”

Laporta believes he benefitted from spending a lot of time on the range Wednesday. He doubled down on the prep by also checking out the greens and practicing with his flat stick.

“I spent a lot of time on the greens just to understand how to work around the lines and the speed, because the greens like they’re pure, but they’re also quick,” he explained.

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