DP WORLD TOUR : Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship Weather Leaderboard
Tommy Fleetwood and fellow Englishman Aaron Rai share the lead at the halfway stage of the 2025 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship after wowing the crowds at Yas Links on day two.
First-round co-leader Fleetwood made a lightning-quick start on Friday as he opened with a hat-trick of birdies before going on to sign for a 66.
The two-time former winner and reigning FedEx Cup champion made a total of seven birdies, with his only bogey of the week so far coming on the 15th.
Joining Fleetwood on 14 under par was World Number 30 Rai, who fired a breathtaking albatross and five birdies in a flawless 64.
The highlight of Rai's round came at the par-five second, where he holed his approach shot from 218 yards with a six iron to land the rarest of birds.
The pair sit two shots clear of nearest challengers Andy Sullivan 67, Nicolai Højgaard 67 and Richard Sterne 68 all at -12, with 2019 winner Shane Lowry 69 -11 among those another stroke further back.
Fleetwood had this to say: "Really good day. I got off to 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.
"Starting well was really important. I just did a really good job. I hit a lot of good shots but a few times today 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. Six under was a very good score."
Rai also made a stunning start, with his albatross on the second catapulting him up the leaderboard.
He said: "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."
On his albatross, Rai added: "I think we had about 185 yards to the front. The wind was a little bit down off the left and that green is so fast, and slopes front-to-back, that anything pitching a few yards onto the green always gets down to the bottom.
"I actually caught it a little bit clean off the face, the line was great. I think it probably pitched around the front edge and chased its way down there. We couldn't see it from back on the fairway, so it was a nice surprise."
edit>>> Favourite to win his 7th Race to Dubai title, Rory McIlroy came flying out of the gate with 5 birdies, a lone bogey, on his front nine 32.
However after a 350yd drive that caught the yawning greenside bunker on the short 388yd 4th 10th, he failed to get up and down, then missed a 3 footer for the bogey 5.
At the the par 5, 588yd 11th, he was just short of the green in two, but took 3 more to get down for a par5 that looked like a birdie 4 chance.
He only managed 1 more birdie with a tee shot to 4' on the par3 13th, some wayward driving stalled his day with another 68 to sit T20 -8 with the weekend to come.
The top 50 and ties in the Race to Dubai standings after 72 holes will proceed to the Tour Championship finale next week in Dubai.
europeantour.com
Bryan Angus (edit)
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