McIlroy and Fowler locked together in Abu Dhabi

"I didn’t want to let him get too far ahead of me. I just wanted to try to stay as close to him as possible and thankfully I was able to do that."

Rory McIlroy and close rival Rickie Fowler are neck and neck after an entertaining opening round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.

The duo’s careers are becoming increasingly intertwined, with Fowler finishing in the top five of all four majors last year but McIlroy winning two of them and coming out on top in their singles match at the Ryder Cup.