Fleetwood Hits 66 To Share Lead With Rai In Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi Championship 2nd information leaderboard

-14 T Fleetwood (Eng), A Rai (Eng); -12 R Sterne (SA), N Hojgaard (Den), A Sullivan (Eng); -11 N Elvira (Spa), S Lowry (Ire), K Nakajima (Jpn), A del Rey (Spa)

Selected others: -10 L Canter (Eng); -8 R McIlroy (NI); -7 L Aberg (Swe), M Fitzpatrick (Eng), R MacIntyre (Sco)

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Tommy Fleetwood kept up his good caller shape pinch a six-under-par 66 to stock nan lead aft 2 rounds of nan Abu Dhabi Championship pinch chap Englishman Aaron Rai.

World number 30 Rai, who holed his 2nd changeable connected nan par-five 2nd from 218 yards to grounds a uncommon albatross, goes into nan play alongside Fleetwood connected 14 nether par.

They are 2 shots clear of South Africa's Richard Sterne, Andy Sullivan of England and Denmark's Nicolai Hojgaard astatine Yas Links.

Shane Lowry, who was associated overnight leader pinch Fleetwood, is simply a changeable further backmost aft a 69, while Rory McIlroy's 2nd 68 successful a statement has him connected 8 under.

Fleetwood, who won this arena successful 2017 and 2018 opened pinch 3 successive birdies and contempt bogeying nan 15th to costs him nan outright lead was successful bully spirits.

"It was a really bully day. I sewage disconnected to nan cleanable start. Birdie, birdie, birdie," said Fleetwood who won nan PGA Tour's season-ending Tour Championship successful September earlier helping Europe triumph nan Ryder Cup successful New York.

"That was good, particularly erstwhile you've had a bully information nan time before. They ever opportunity it's difficult to travel up a bully information pinch different bully one, aliases a debased 1 pinch different one.

"Starting good was really important. I conscionable did a really bully job. I deed a batch of bully shots but a fewer times coming I drove it into nan unsmooth and we publication nan lies really well.

"I felt for illustration we did a awesome occupation of controlling nan shot retired of nan rough, and that was really pleasing. I consciousness for illustration I putted coagulated again. Six nether was a very bully score."

The Abu Dhabi Championship is nan first of 2 DP World Tour end-of-season play-off events pinch nan apical 70 players competing this week and nan starring 50 advancing to adjacent week's finale successful Dubai.

And pinch a full of 9,000 points to beryllium shared among nan section this week (1,500 to nan winner) and 12,000 much adjacent week (2,000 to nan winner), nan Harry Vardon Trophy is up for grabs.

McIlroy is successful rod position to triumph nan season-long title for a seventh clip - 1 down Colin Montgomerie's grounds of eight.

The Northern Irishman leads nan Race to Dubai standings by conscionable nether 500 points from Marco Penge, nan Englishman who has won 3 times connected circuit this year.

Penge is 1 changeable up of McIlroy successful Abu Dhabi, having followed his opening 67 pinch a 68 to beryllium connected 9 under.

Tyrrell Hatton, who is simply a further 800 points down Penge, besides has a changeable astatine nan wide title, though he is connected six nether aft 2 rounds.

Fleetwood is astir 2,800 points adrift of McIlroy truthful to person immoderate chance of wide triumph would request to triumph some events and dream his Ryder Cup team-mate falters.