ABU DHABI: Aaron Rai holed his approach shot from 218 yards out to score a rare albatross, highlighting a round of 64 that left him tied for the lead after 36 holes at the Abu Dhabi Championship on Friday.
Rai entered the second round at Yas Links Golf Club two strokes behind a quintet of co-leaders, including fellow Englishman Tommy Fleetwood, but quickly made up ground on the par-5 No. 2 hole. His second shot landed on the green and rolled into the cup, allowing him to pick up three shots on the hole.
He described the shot after the round, which left him at a 14-under 130 through 36 holes and tied with Fleetwood.
“The wind was a little bit down off the left and that green was so fast,” he said. “It slopes front-to-back, pitching a few yards on to the green, actually caught it a little bit clean off the face, the line was great. Finished around the front edge and chased its way down there. You couldn’t see it from the back of the fairway, so it was a nice surprise.”
To maintain a share of the lead, Fleetwood mixed seven birdies and a bogey to finish with a 66 following his opening-round 64. He is a two-time winner of the event and confident heading into the third round on Saturday.
“Really good day. I got off to like the perfect start. Birdie, birdie, birdie,” he said. “That was good, especially when you’ve had a good round the day before. They always say it’s hard to follow up a good round with another good one, or a low one with another one.
“Starting good was really important. I just did a really good job — I hit a lot of good shots but a few times today where I drove it into the rough and we read the lies really well. I felt like we did a great job of controlling the ball out of the rough, and that was really pleasing. I feel like I putted solid again; 6-under was a very good score.”
Rai and Fleetwood are two shots ahead of Andy Sullivan (67) of England, Denmark’s Nicolai Hojgaard (67) and Richard Sterne (68) of South Africa.
Irishman Shane Lowry, another past champion, is one of four players three shots behind the leaders at 11-under. He shot a 69.
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, ranked No. 2 in the world, is 8-under for the tournament and tied for 20th place after back-to-back rounds of 68.
