HSBC Championship Abu Dhabi: Rory McIlroy hit by triple bogey late in second round as Paul Waring breaks course record | Golf news

Rory McIlroy’s hopes of making the Race to Dubai with a week to spare at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship suffered a late setback in the second round after an ugly triple bogey at the par-three 17th helped leave him nine shots behind England’s Paul Waring finished. who set a new course record.

McIlroy, who will be confident of finishing 2024 as Europe’s top player for the sixth time even before next week’s DP World Tour Championship in Dubai if he finishes first or second on Sunday, was already seven off the blistering pace van Waring as he stood on the penultimate tee, despite being an impressive seven under for his own round at the time.

The short 17th hole was the only hole McIlroy bogeyed in the first round and the 211-yarder tripped him up again, albeit in more spectacular fashion on Friday.

After finding the bunker on the right with his tee shot, the 35-year-old’s chip went long up the green and eventually rolled straight into the sand on the other side.

With McIlroy having a particularly bad descent, he was just able to get it to the edge of the bunker with his next chip. He then chipped past the pin into the green before three-putting.

“Up to that point I was playing pretty well, and even felt like I hit a nice shot into 17, a nice flying five-iron, hit the downhill and rolled into the bunker,” McIlroy said.

“It wasn’t a great leave in the first place, but the club bounced on me, there wasn’t much sand wherever the ball was in the bunker, and I made a mess of it from there.”

Perhaps crucially, he hit back immediately, birdieing the par-five 18th to pull back one shot and leave him tied for 14th on the leaderboard after consecutive rounds of 67.

“I bounced back well, two good shots in the last one and made birdie there,” McIlroy added. “So I just have to go out there (on Saturday), try to get a fast start and get myself back into it.”

McIlroy came from ten shots behind at the halfway point to win in Dubai in January, but admitted: “I would like to see the course become a bit firmer. There were a few greens today that got a bit shinier and trickier, so I need the golf course to to firm up and toughen up a little to have a chance.

“There are so many holes you can hit, the par fives and some shorter par fours. It’ll be up to me, I shot 63 that Saturday in Dubai, this year I need something similar, if not lower, to give myself a chance to go into Sunday.

“I know it exists. I was seven under through thirteen holes today, so it’s possible.”

Record-breaking Waring in control after stunning 61

The entire field now has a clear target to overtake this weekend after world number 229 Waring opened a five-shot lead at the top of the 70-player leaderboard thanks to a record 61 around the Yas Links.

After shooting an eight-under 64 on Thursday, Waring also set a new record for the lowest combined score to par (19 under) in DP World Tour history after two rounds.

The Englishman made his second shot at sixth from 119 meters for eagle and also recorded nine birdies to reach 19 under par as he chased his second title on the tour.

That gave the 39-year-old a five-shot lead over Tommy Fleetwood, Thorbjorn Olesen, Johannes Veerman and Niklas Norgaard.

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Waring completed his round in spectacular fashion at the par-five 18th, hitting his third shot from 265 yards to within a yard of the pin after having to throw back onto the fairway after a wayward drive.

“That was honestly the best shot I’ve ever made in my life,” Waring said.

“The tee shot on 18 was a bit odd for me because I had been hitting it great all day, so even over those three woods I felt like I could hit a solid shot into the part of the green and just make a little draw hit .

“Honestly I’m just trying to keep going, keep making birdies. My caddy made the comment a few days ago, we played a bit of golf at Trump in Dubai and we also played the Fire Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates and for those two rounds I actually had 50 percent birdies.

“We were laughing a bit yesterday (Thursday) because I had nine birdies, so that was 50 percent, so today he said yes, every round you have to improve 50 percent birdies.

“I’m obviously feeling great and swinging it great. Putter is behaving. That’s what I would call a weak spot for me every now and then, but I’ve put a lot of work into it and since moving to Dubai I’ve Very used to this style of greens as well.”

Fleetwood, who had equaled the previous course record with a 62 on Thursday, added a 68 as he attempted to win for a third time in Abu Dhabi.

Who will win the Race to Dubai? Watch the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and the DP World Tour Championship live on Sky Sports Golf this month. Buy Sky Sports