McIlroy fires 63 to move into Abu Dhabi contention

Published8 hours ago

Abu Dhabi Championship second-round leaderboard

-12 J Rahm (Spa), T Hatton (Eng), F Laporta (Ita); -11 S Bairstow (Eng), R McIlroy (NI), A Meronk (Pol), M Jordan (Eng); -10 B Wiesberger (Aut), D Puig (Spa); -9 M Elvira (Spa), A Scott (Aus); -8 D Hillier (NZ), E Ferguson (Sco), T Fleetwood (Eng)

Selected others: -7 M Wallace (Eng); -6 A Rai (Eng); -3 E Chacarro (Spa); +1 P Reed (US)

Full leaderboard

Rory McIlroy posted 11 birdies in a nine-under-par second-round 63 at the Abu Dhabi Championship to move within one shot of the lead.

The 37-year-old put the setback of the two-shot penalty he received on Thursday behind him as he completed the best round of the day to reach 11 under overall.

Spain's Jon Rahm, England's Tyrell Hatton and Italy's Francesco Laporta share the lead at 12 under, while McIlroy is part of a four-strong group that includes the English duo of Sam Bairstow and Matthew Jordan, plus Poland's Adrian Meronk.

Laporta held the first-round lead at 10 under, but has been joined at the top of the leaderboard by Rahm and Hatton, who both outscored him on Friday.

McIlroy had been handed his sanction for improving his lie during the opening round and as a result finished day one on two under par - eight shots back.

The six-time major winner was penalised after pressing down on the grass behind his ball with his club before hitting a chip on the par-four 12th at Yas Links.

'I had a clear conscience'

McIlroy began his second round with a bogey at the first but bounced back by picking up shots at the second, fourth and seventh holes.

The back-to-back Masters champion then stormed up the leaderboard with five consecutive birdies from holes nine to 13.

A dropped shot at the 14th proved to be only a temporary blip as he recorded two further birdies on the 17th and 18th holes to cap a scintillating round.

It is the first time in his career he has made 11 birdies in a single round of a DP World Tour event.

After his round, McIlroy said he had "made peace" with the circumstances around the two-shot penalty and felt free to go out and post a good score.

"I went out today, like it wasn't playing on my mind. I had a clear conscience, and I could just go and play," he said.

"It wasn't like I got off to the greatest of starts, but then obviously I got it going.

"I did everything well again. I drove the ball well. I hit my irons well. I putted a little bit better. I saw a few more putts go in, which is something that I haven't been seeing for the last couple of months.

"I definitely saw some encouraging signs on the greens today."

McIlroy is chasing a fifth Race to Dubai title in a row and a record-equalling eighth in total, which would draw him level with Scotland's Colin Montgomerie.

McIlroy went into the Abu Dhabi tournament in third position in the standings, behind leader Eugenio Chacarra and second-placed Patrick Reed.

American Reed was the long-time Race to Dubai leader after his Rolex Series victory in Dubai and win in Qatar but was recently overtaken as Spaniard Chacarra claimed a third triumph of the season at the DP World India Championship.

Chacarra shot a second-round 71 on Friday to sit well down the field on three under, while Reed registered the same score to lie further back on one over.

The top 70 available players from the Race to Dubai rankings are competing in Abu Dhabi, with the top 50 progressing to next week's season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

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