ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates – After the second spherical of the Abu Dhabi Championship on Friday, Aaron Rai holed out in an albatross from 214 yards to attain an eight-under 64 and transfer right into a tie for the lead with fellow Briton Tommy Fleetwood.
Rye’s second shot on the par-5 second gap hit the inexperienced a number of yards earlier than rolling into the cup at Yas Hyperlinks Golf Membership.
“I could not see it from the again of the green, so it was a pleasant shock,” mentioned Lai, who began the spherical two photographs behind the chief and bogey-free within the penultimate occasion of the 2025 European Tour season.
Fleetwood, the 2017 and 2018 champion, scored a gap spherical 64 to turn out to be one in all 5 gamers to share the lead, and the FedEx Cup winner added a 66, helped by birdies on the primary three holes, to maneuver to 14 underneath for the week, tied with Rye.
“We have had loads of good rounds,” Fleetwood mentioned of his sturdy end to the season, which included being factors scorer in Europe’s Ryder Cup win in September and successful the Indian Championship final month. “However I am not silly. I have been bitten many instances.”
Andy Sullivan (67), Nikolai Hujgaard (67) and Richard Stern (68) are shut to 2 strokes behind, whereas Shane Lowry is one in all 4 gamers with a one-stroke lead after a 69.
Rory McIlroy, who ranks second within the rankings, shot his second straight 68 and is now 8 underneath, six photographs behind Rye and Fleetwood.
McIlroy leads the Race to Dubai standings and is looking for his seventh win within the European Tour’s season-long factors race, which might put him one step nearer to equaling Colin Montgomerie’s report.
Marco Penge, 68, is McIlroy’s closest rival within the Race to Dubai, having performed in the identical group for the primary two days, and leads the Northern Irishman by one stroke.
