Rory McIlroy held the 18-hole lead at the DP World Tour Championship, and was once again cruising along throughout his second round until his third shot on the par-5 18th found the water. He would eventually make double-bogey, falling from the solo-lead into a tie for fourth.
“I hit a good drive down there yesterday, it’s a comfortable tee shot for me,” McIlroy said when asked about his decision to hit the big stick on the last. “It was playing slightly back into the wind, I hit that tee shot really well, I actually didn’t expect it to go as far as it did.”
“The third shot, I hit a really good shot. That part of the fairway where the ball was was quite thatchy and it just came off a little spinny up into the wind. I hit a good golf shot, I didn’t feel like it deserved to end up in the water.
“Still right in the golf tournament.”
McIlroy will be paired with fellow TaylorMade staffer Collin Morikawa during the third round Saturday.
Another Irishman finds himself tied atop the board, Shane Lowry. The 2019 Open Champion fired a second-round 65, tied for the best round of the day with co-leader John Catlin. His bogey-free effort included an incredible hole-out for eagle on the par-5 14th.
“That was one of my better ones. That was as good a chip I’ve hit in a while. I knew when I missed over there it was going to be difficult,” Lowry said of the short game magic. “It was one of those that just, I seen the shot and I just went for it.”
His performance this week comes with some surprise, as the Olympian missed the cut in his last two starts (Houston Open, Mayakoba).
Two players are tied with Lowry at 10 under, the American Catlin, and Sam Horsfield, who has already made 13 birdies and an eagle in his first two rounds.
Morikawa, who currently leads the Race to Dubai and would be the first American to win the award, fired a 68 for the second consecutive day and is tied for sixth, just two shots back.