Andy DevaneyCoby Carruthers arrived at the Abu Dhabi Challenge with a professional record still in its infancy and a useful bit of course history tucked in the back pocket. By Thursday evening at Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting & Golf Club, he also had the outright lead.
The 21-year-old Australian opened with an eight under par 62, a clean, controlled round that left him one stroke clear after day one. No dropped shots. Eight birdies. Not much fuss. Golf can be wonderfully uncluttered when the scorecard behaves itself.
Carruthers was among the later starters in the UAE and took full advantage of calmer afternoon conditions. While Belgian James Meyer de Beco had already posted the clubhouse target, Carruthers went about his business with the neat efficiency of someone who knew the place, trusted the game plan and resisted the temptation to turn a good day into a complicated one.
A fast start without the fireworks
The round began to take shape early. Carruthers birdied the difficult second, then moved to two under with another gain at the drivable par-four fourth. A further birdie at the seventh took him out in 33.
That was good. The back nine was better.
Four birdies in five holes from the 11th carried him up the leaderboard, and when he added one more at the par-five 18th, the Australian had reached eight under and moved clear of Meyer de Beco.
“I got off to a nice start,” Carruthers said. “I holed a nice birdie putt on the second. I kept it on play off the tee and missed just two greens which I know is super important around here.
“There wasn’t anything that stood out. Everything was really solid. I drove it quite nice as I said and holed a few solid putts and kept giving myself chances.”
That is often how the best low rounds sound afterwards: less thunderclap, more tidy accounting. Fairways, greens, a few putts, no self-inflicted nonsense. The sort of golf professionals describe as “solid”, while the rest of us wonder why solid so rarely looks like 62.
Why Al Ain clearly suits him
There is a little more to this story than one hot Thursday. Carruthers has previous at Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting & Golf Club, having won the 2024 UAE Cup there as an amateur.
That result mattered. It helped earn him a place in last year’s Abu Dhabi Challenge, as well as Asian Tour Q School. It also forms part of his continuing link with the Emirates Golf Federation, whose support has given him another opportunity this week.
Carruthers received one of the 30 invites made available by the Emirates Golf Federation for the event. This time he is not here as an amateur prospect having a look around. He is here as a professional, trying to turn starts into substance.
“After winning the UAE Cup a couple of years ago the EGF have been nice enough to invite me the past two years which has been really nice of them,” he said.
“Turning professional wasn’t meant to be this easy! I missed the cut last week so it was about resetting and making sure I was in a good head space. I’ve played well here before and it’s nice to be back here.”
There is a useful honesty in that. A missed cut one week, a 62 the next. Professional golf rarely offers a soft landing, but it does occasionally throw a young player a day when the old confidence comes wandering back into view.
The chasing pack is close enough
Carruthers has the lead, but not the luxury of distance. Meyer de Beco sits just one shot behind after setting the early clubhouse mark at seven under.
Belgian Matthis Besard, German Michael Hirmer and Dane Victor Sidal Svendsen are a further stroke back at six under, with seven players tied on five under. In other words, plenty of names remain close enough to make Friday uncomfortable if Carruthers gives anything away.
That is the reality of an opening 62. It earns attention, not immunity.
The second round begins at 6:30am local time, with Carruthers out at 7:30am alongside England’s Callum Tarren and Ireland’s Ronan Mullarney. It is a quick turnaround, and perhaps that suits him. Less time to admire the leaderboard. Less time to let the mind start decorating the trophy cabinet.
Keeping the game simple
Carruthers did not sound like a player intent on overcomplicating the next 54 holes. After a day built on fairways, greens and patience, his plan is refreshingly free of theatre.
“I’m just going to go out there and have fun,” he said. “I’ve been struggling a little bit on the range but I just went out and played today and that’s what I’m good at. I’m just going to stick on top of things, keep hitting fairways and greens and see what happens.”
That may be the line of the day. Struggling on the range, leading the tournament. Golf, in its endless mischief, has never been overly concerned with making sense.
For Carruthers, the next test is not proving that Thursday was brilliant. The scorecard has already done that. It is proving he can stay within the same quiet rhythm when the early lead becomes the thing everyone else is chasing.
