DP World Tour : Ras Al Kaimah Championship Leaderboard
David Law fired an eagle and three birdies over the final five holes on Friday to sign for a flawless 64 and share the lead alongside Adrian Meronk and Rasmus Højgaard at the halfway stage of the 2023 Ras Al Khaimah Championship.
The Scot made three birdies on the front nine before catching fire towards the end of his round, as an eagle on the 14th and a hat-trick of birdies from the 15th took him into the weekend on 11 under par.
Poland's Meronk had made seven birdies and no bogeys in the morning to set the early target before being joined at the summit. (Photo above taken seconds after he won the Aussie Open.)
Højgaard, meanwhile, briefly got to 12 under after making six birdies in his first 14 holes before a bogey on the 16th meant he had to settle for a share of the lead.
The 21-year-old Dane is aiming to emulate his twin Nicolai, who won this event last year, and in doing so make the Højgaards the first brothers to win the same tournament on the DP World Tour.
First-round leader Ryo Hisatsune produced a second-round 70 to sit in a four-way tie for fourth, one shot behind the trio at the top.
Also on ten under were Wil Besseling and Englishmen Daniel Gavins and Dale Whitnell.
Beginning the day on three under par, Law made steady progress on the front nine, picking up shots at the third, fifth and eighth to turn in 33.
And after a quiet spell around the turn which yielded five successive pars, Law found the 14th green in two before holing his eagle putt from seven feet.
He then rolled in three consecutive long-range putts at the 15th, 16th and 17th to earn a share of the lead.
Law said: "I just stayed patient. I played good stuff the first 12 holes and didn’t hole too much.
"The last six holes I putted really well, which made a big difference."
Højgaard followed up back-to-back birdies at the first and second with an 18-footer on the fifth before a hat-trick of gains at the 12th, 13th and 14th handed him the outright lead on 12 under.
But after finding a bush with his tee-shot at the 16th, Højgaard dropped a shot there and narrowly missed his birdie putt on the last to stay tied with Law and Meronk.
Speaking about the possibility of becoming the first brothers to win a DP World Tour event, Højgaard said: "It would be pretty cool but there’s still a lot of golf to be played.
"It would be cool to make some history."
Starting from the tenth tee on Friday, Meronk reeled off four successive birdies from the 11th before making three more gains after the turn in his 65.
He said: "A lot of solid shots, great putts.
"It was quite calm in the morning so you could aim at the pins and go quite aggressive, which I did."
EDIT:
The DP World Tour was renamed after the original European Tour to reflect the truly International schedule they play and the emergence and money pouring into it's coffers from the Middle East. Dubai is now a European Tour HQ along with it's home in Surrey, England.
They will visit 46 countries this year, and just look at today's leaderboard. Playing in the predominantly Muslim, United Arab Emirates we have a Scotsman, a Polish star and a young Dane tied for the lead and a young Japanese player just a shot behind.
Such is golf in 2023.
europeantour.com
Bryan Angus (edit)
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