Shane Lowry lost his share of the overnight lead at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship but he still remains well in the mix at the halfway point despite a painful finish to his second round at Yas Links.
Lowry bogeyed the par-3 17th and found the coffin fairway bunker on the par-5 18th which also cost him a dropped shot as he signed for a frustrating three-under 69 to leave him in a share of sixth place on eleven-under and three shots behind English duo Tommy Fleetwood and Aaron Rai.
It capped off a very eventful back nine for Lowry who after just one birdie on the 2nd, birdied the tenth and eagled the par-5 11th after a thinned second shot rolled 11-feet short of the pin.
The Offaly man birdied the 13th but double bogeyed the 14th after finding water with his tee shot. He then bounced back with back to back birdies to close within one of the leaders before his driver let him down again at the finish.
Lowry has unfinished business with Yas Links having been in the final group after 54 holes in the last three seasons before tumbling out of the top-10 and the golf course bit him again as he looks to add his name to the trophy for the second time and win for the first time since 2022.
But to do that he will have to hunt down a rampant Fleetwood who has dropped just one shot across 36 holes and backed up a 64 with an equally impressive 66 where he was five-under through eleven holes as he bids for a third win since August.
The world number five shares the lead with Rai and they are two shots clear of renaissance men Andy Sullivan and Richard Sterne while Nicolai Hojgaard is also on twelve-under after a 67.
“Really good day. I got off to like the perfect start. Birdie, birdie, birdie. That was good, especially when you’ve had a good round the day before. They always say it’s hard to follow up a good round with another good one, or a low one with another one,” said Fleetwood.
“Starting good was really important. I just did a really good job — I hit a lot of good shots but a few times today where I drove it into the rough and we read the lies really well. I felt like we did a great job of controlling the ball out of the rough, and that was really pleasing. I feel like I putted solid again. 6-under was a very good score.”
Rai is already a Rolex winner having won the Scottish Open in 2020 but this would be his first win since the 2024 Wyndham Championship on the PGA Tour if he can close out over the weekend.
It was a textbook solid Rai performance who hit all eighteen greens on day two, carding five birdies and an eagle on the par-5 2nd.
“Yeah, it was really good. Struck it really well tee-to-green. Had a lot of chances. Just felt very stress-free overall. Yeah, it was just a very solid, productive day,” said Rai.
Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy was solid if unspectacular again as he carded a second straight 68 to sit in a share of 20th place on eight-under, six shots off the pace and one shot behind his closest challenger in the Race to Dubai Rankings, Marco Penge.
Tom McKibbin enjoyed a better day on the golf course as a round of 69 brought him back to level-par.
Scoring HERE
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