This week we got our first glimpse of the Jordan Spieth/Rory McIlroy duel that is likely to dominate golf throughout 2016.
Both were playing partners for the first two rounds of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
Those hoping for some common enmity to spice up the rivalry between the two superstars will be sadly disappointed, as it appears that these two straight up do like each other.
Spieth hailed the performance of McIlroy as a 'masterclass'
McIlroy shot an opening round 66 to lead Spieth by two shots, and left the Texan suitably impressed:
It was a masterclass, the Rory that I have seen win major championships.
It was very impressive today and minus one or two short putts, which is mainly just rust, it felt like he was on his A game.
It was spectacular. It was a pretty unbelievable round on a very challenging course. If he keeps striking it like that I’m going to have to make up for it somewhere else.
Speith finished two shots behind McIlroy, and earned a warning from the tournament officials over slow play after he was adjudged to have spent too long over his putt on the 8th hole.
McIlroy was supportive of Spieth, describing the warning as 'weird'.
