ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Paul Waring shot the shot of his life Friday in the second round of the Abu Dhabi Championship, shooting a career-low 61 under. 11 shots and built a five-shot lead heading into DP weekend, the World Tour's first playoff event.
The 229th-ranked Brit hit a 3-wood from about 260 yards to inside 4 feet on the 18th hole and made the birdie putt to improve to 19 under for the tournament. .
The DP World Tour confirmed to The Associated Press that it was the lowest 36-hole score in the tour's history. The lowest score in the first two rounds was Ernie Els' 18-under total at the 2004 Heineken Classic.
Waring opened with a 64 on Thursday, setting a course record with nine birdies and an eagle in a bogey-free round at Yas Links.
“I've got a good lead at the moment but even before tee time tomorrow someone might catch me,” said 39-year-old Waring, whose only win came at the 2018 Nordic Masters superior. I'm in the lead right now and if we're being rational about it, everyone is still going to shoot a lot of birdies out there.
“So, if I'm going to play on Sunday afternoon, I still have to continue the way I'm going and I know that.”
The first-round leaders were England's Tommy Fleetwood (68), American Johannes Wellman (67) and Denmark's Niklas Norgaard (65) and Thorbjorn • Olson (67) tied for second at 14 under.
Rory McIlroy hit his tee shot into a greenside bunker on the par-3 17th for a triple bogey and his second straight 67, leaving him nine off the lead. Rod.
Rory McIlroy's hard-fought climb up the leaderboard came to an abrupt end at the HSBC Championship in Abu Dhabi on Friday.
McIlroy, who will win his sixth Dubai tournament with a win this week, is 7 under after 13 holes in the second round and feels he needs to play similar to Waring and His closest Chaser result.
“I need the golf course to be a little firmer to have a chance,” McIlroy said. “There's a lot of holes to drill in there.”