Aaron Rai hit 17 greens and the bottom of the second hole while grabbing a share of the lead Friday at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
Rai’s albatross from 218 yards at Yas Golf Links’ par-4 second hole highlighted an 8-under 64 that moved Rai to 14 under alongside fellow Englishman Tommy Fleetwood, who carded a second-round 66.
“I think we had about 185 yards to the front,” Rai said of his albatross. “The wind was a little bit down off the left, and that green was so fast, 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.”
Rai added five birdies as part of his bogey-free day, including on each of his final two holes – the par-3 17th, where he drained a 26-footer, and the par-5 18th.
“Any time you hit close to 18 greens, you’ve had a good day out there, let alone 18,” Rai added.
Rai entered the week ranked No. 42 in the Race to Dubai. A win would vault him to No. 13, though McIlroy began the two-event DP World Tour playoffs as No. 1 and the comfortable favorite to win the season-long honor for the seventh time, one shy of Colin Montgomerie’s record.
McIlroy poured in five birdies on the front nine on Friday before playing his second nine in even par. He did hit a nice recovery shot from a bush at the short, par-4 14th, blasting out of the wispy stuff and onto the green with a baseball-like swing.
Grouped with McIlroy, Marco Penge, second in the Race to Dubai, notched his DP World Tour-leading 20th eagle of the season on the second hole as he matched McIlroy’s 4-under 68 to remain at 9 under, tied for 17th and a shot clear of McIlroy.
Fleetwood birdied each of his first three holes en route to a 6-under 66. Should he win on Sunday, he’s projected to rise to fifth in the season-long race, which is also where he sits in the Official World Golf Ranking thanks to a breakout year in which he’s won the Tour Championship on the PGA Tour and recently the DP World India Championship.
“I got off to like the perfect start,” Fleetwood said, before later adding, “I feel, obviously, good about my game, and I’m doing so many things well. But I’m also very aware of what the game can do to you as well. I’ll just stay very focused on each day. I’m having a lot of good rounds, but I’m not stupid, and it’s bitten me enough times. I’ll enjoy these good ones but stay focused and continue to do the right things and keep it going as long as possible.”
Richard Sterne, Andy Sullivan and Nicolai Hojgaard share third at 12 under, each two shots back, while former Arizona State player Alex Del Rey fired 64 to move into a share of sixth at 11 under with fellow Spaniard Nacho Elvira, Shane Lowry and Keita Nakajima.