Justin Rose underline yesterday what a force he also is now in golf.
After McIlroy struggled to a 75 with his new Nike equipment and Woods began his season with a real mixed bag of a 72, Rose marked his Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship debut with a five-under-par 67.
The world No 5 shares the lead with Welshman Jamie Donaldson, both of them having holed a bunker shot as they established a one-stroke lead over Dane Thorbjorn Olesen and Spaniard Pablo Larrazabal.
“It’s the perfect start to get up on the leaderboard,” the 32-year-old added.
“I knew it was going to be a tough afternoon (he had watched some of the earlier television coverage of McIlroy and Woods) and I felt very good about that score.”
Donaldson beat McIlroy when he won his only European Tour title at the Irish Open last July, but Rose knows what it is like to beat them both.
He did that twice last year, first in the world championship title in Miami in March Woods was already way out of contention when he withdrew injured on the final day and then in the unofficial World Golf Final in Turkey in October.
He actually set off with a bogey, but by the time he made it from the sand beside the ninth green he was four under and getting up and down from another bunker at the long next took him alongside Donaldson.
McIlroy double-bogeyed the 15th and third and said: “I feel like I was a little bit rusty not playing any competitive golf for eight weeks.”
Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley shot 76 the same as Europe’s last two leaders, Colin Montgomerie and Jose Maria Olazabal.
Darren Clarke, who withdrew from the race for the job at Gleneagles next year to try to play in the match again, came home in 43 for a 79 while Paul Lawrie, another candidate for the job, shot 74.
Leading scores (Gbr & Irl unless stated):
67 Justin Rose, Jamie Donaldson.
68 Thorbjorn Olesen (Den), Pablo Larrazabal (Spa).
69 Michael Campbell (Nzl), David Howell, Wen-chong Liang (Chn), George Coetzee (Rsa), Henrik Stenson (Swe).
70 Soren Kjeldsen (Den), Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind), Joost Luiten (Ned), Danny Willett, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa), Thongchai Jaidee (Tha).
Other scores included:
71 Martin Kaymer (Ger), Ernie Els (Rsa), Paul Casey.
72 Tiger Woods (USA), Matteo Manassero (Ita), Craig Lee, Padraig Harrington.
73 Richie Ramsay, Peter Whiteford.
74 Paul Lawrie.
75 Scott Jamieson, Rory McIlroy.
76 Colin Montgomerie, Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa), Stephen Gallacher, Paul McGinley.
77 David Drysdale, Christopher Doak.
78 Scott Henry, Marc Warren.
79 Darren Clarke.