Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods struggled out of the gate in round one of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship on Thursday. The newest Nike golfer finished the day with a 3-over 75, while Woods broke even at 72 strokes through his first 18. The two teed off along with Martin Kaymer of Germany, who finished one ahead of Woods for a tie in 16th.
The same three golfers have a 12:05pm local tee time on Friday, which is 3:05am EST. You can watch the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship live right here. Coverage starts at 2:30 am EST and goes until 8 am.
On Monday, McIlroy signed a five-year deal with Nike, with the terms not yet disclosed. The agreement is believed to be worth less than $250 million, as originally reported. ESPN says the deal will be for five years, "with the annual haul still quite lucrative." The sponsorship makes McIlroy the primary focus of Nike Golf, with the Northern Irish golfer already using all Nike equipment in Abu Dhabi.
McIlroy has six PGA Tour wins, including the 2011 U.S. Open and the 2012 PGA Championship. He finished one place ahead of Phil Mickelson twice and Woods once in three of his other PGA wins.
Woods is reportedly trying to re-marry his ex-wife Elin Nordegren. Fox Sports said that he proposed to her during Christmas, and that Nordegren-who he was married to for five years-is considering his offer. Woods, who is worth more than $600 million, is willing to give up "a huge chunk of change to get her back." Nordegren is asking for a $350 million anti-cheating clause to be added to the deal.
Nordegren found out Woods had been cheating on her in November of 2009. The couple has been living apart since 2010.
This is the newest Nike Golf Commercial, which was taped in October, according to ESPN. The two golfers were unable to make the shoot on the same day, so some clever editing pieced them together.
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