Rory Mc Ilroy posted 11 birdies in a nine-under-par second-round 63 to move within one shot of the lead at the Abu Dhabi Championship. The 37-year-old recovered from a two-shot penalty on day one, completing the best round of the day to reach 11 under overall. Spain's Jon Rahm, England's Tyrell Hatton and Italy's Francesco Laporta share the lead at 12 under.
Mc Ilroy is part of a four-strong group that includes Sam Bairstow, Matthew Jordan and Adrian Meronk. Laporta held the first-round lead but was joined at the top by Rahm and Hatton, who outscored him on Friday. After his round, Mc Ilroy said he had "made peace" with the circumstances around the penalty and felt free to post a good score.
It is the first time in his career he has made 11 birdies in a single round of a DP World Tour event. Mc Ilroy is chasing a fifth Race to Dubai title in a row and a record-equalling eighth in total, which would draw him level with Colin Montgomerie. He went into the tournament third in the standings, behind Eugenio Chacarra and Patrick Reed.
Chacarra shot a second-round 71 to sit on three under, while Reed registered the same score to lie on one over. The top 70 available players from the Race to Dubai rankings are competing, with the top 50 progressing to next week's season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.
Source: BBC Sport · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing