Paul Waring made history at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship with a stunning 61, earning him his lowest ever half-distance score on the DP World Tour.
The 39-year-old Brit shot an 11-under 61 for the round, the lowest score of his career, and his total after 36 holes was 19-under. Lowest score in DP World Tour history.
Waring had nine birdies and one eagle in his second round at Yas Links, including a superb 250-yard fairway wood on the 18th hole that ended with a birdie.
“Honestly, it's the best shot I've ever hit in my life,” Waring said after giving himself a five-shot lead and looking for a second DP World Tour title in his 17-year career.
Waring has only one previous victory in 331 starts on the DP World Tour, but the veteran from Birkenhead, near Liverpool, who now lives in Dubai, is now in pole position for huge success as he takes on the challenge in Abu Dhabi Compare.
“Honestly, I just want to keep going and keep making birdies,” Waring said.
“Obviously it feels great, the swing is great. The putting is showing. I would often say it's my weakness, but I've worked a lot on it and I'm very used to those styles since moving to Dubai. putting green.
“I've got a good lead at the moment but even before I kick off tomorrow someone might have caught me. So if I'm going to play on Sunday afternoon I still have to keep going the way I'm doing now. “
✅ Career low score ✅ Course record 61 (-11) ✅ Five strokes ahead of @PaulWaringGolf and 250 yards in the stands 💪 #ADGolfChamps | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/nVvHxDD7a8November 8, 2024
Waring also set a course record at Royal County Down during this year's Irish Open, surpassing Ernie Els's DP World Tour 18-under 36-hole best set by Ernie Els at the 2004 Heineken Classic at Royal Melbourne. score.
Winning the $1.53 million first prize in Abu Dhabi will also move Waring to the top of the standings for the trip to Dubai, earning him one of 10 PGA Tour cards on offer this season.
First, though, he must hold off the likes of Tommy Fleetwood, who equaled the previous course record of 62 on Thursday and is in contention for a third Abu Dhabi victory 5 shots behind in the process.
Rory McIlroy shot back-to-back 10-under 67s, including a triple bogey on No. 17, to fall nine shots behind.
“I was playing pretty good up until that point, and I felt like I hit 17 and just rolled into a bunker,” McIlroy said.
“There wasn’t a lot of sand where the ball was, and I just messed it up from there, but it bounced back really well at the end and made the birdie.”
