ENGLISHMAN RICHARD BLAND holds a share of the lead at the halfway stage of the Hero Dubai Desert Classic after posting two successive rounds of 67, while Rory McIlroy remains firmly in contention.
The pre-tournament build-up had been dominated by a war of words between McIlroy and American Patrick Reed, who were another stroke back on eight under but will play in different groups in Sunday’s third round.
McIlroy picked up an eagle on the 13th to leave him just two shots off the lead while Reed’s second round included three birdies on the second, fourth and 17th holes.
Joining the pair on that number were Englishmen Matt Wallace, Dan Bradbury and Ian Poulter, Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger, Australian Lucas Herbert and Spain’s Angel Hidalgo.
The 49-year-old returned to complete his second round on Saturday morning after making three birdies over the first four holes before play was suspended due to fading light on Friday.
And he carded three more birdies and a solitary bogey in his remaining 14 holes to set the target at 10 under par.
There was disappointment for Ireland’s Shane Lowry, Tom McKibbin and Padraig Harrington as they all exited the tournament at the end of the second round.
Lowry carded a 75 to finish on one-over. McKibbin also finished on one-over after posting a 71, while Harrington was further down on two-over despite an impressive 65 which included eight birdies. However it wasn’t enough to help him recover from his opening round of 81.
Belgium’s Thomas Pieters joined Bland at the summit after closing his Saturday 67 with seven birdies on the back nine before American amateur Michael Thorbjornsen made it a three-way tie.
Thorbjornsen carded an eagle, seven birdies and one bogey in his 64 to grab a share of the lead.
On the charge 💪 @McIlroyRory makes eagle at 13. #HeroDDC | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/ujU4J5JTak
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) January 28, 2023
Scotland’s Connor Syme, Swede Marcus Kinhult and Spaniard Adri Arnaus sat one shot off the lead on nine under.
Bland has made just one bogey in the opening two rounds and is happy with where his game is at.
He said: “Every part of my game is in pretty good shape.
“The only dropped shot was at the sixth this morning where (on my) second hole of the day, I misjudged the temperature and chipped to three feet and missed.
“So other than that, it’s been pretty stress-free which is kind of nice.”
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Shane Lowry, Tom McKibbin and Padraig Harrington
