Rory is going for Seve. The Northern Irishman turned professional in 2007 and a year later played his first full season on the European Circuit. Since then, the boy from Holywood has won five merit orders from the Tour and is just one victory away from catching the genius of Pedreña, second on the list with six and two from Colin Montgomerie. From Dubai to Dubai, as in the emirate opens the course McIlroy and in that city of the Persian Gulf will seek in the final on November 17, or even earlier, to crown himself with another title and reach half a dozen of the regularity trophy of the DP World Tour.
For now, at the Dubai Creek Resort McIlroy (-10) is in command thanks to his powerful debut yesterday. The second day, in pure Rory style, was complicated by a mishap at hole 8. He is free of bogeys, double bogeys and triple bogeys after 36 flags (14 birdies in total), but there, at that par 3, he made a double mistake (water and water) that ended in quadruple bogey and opened the doors to a bunch of candidates when it seemed that he could finish the second round around -15 after a brilliant start: birdies at 3 and 4. From -11 he went to -7 in a jiffy. You know: Roryland.
.@McIlroyRory opens up a two-shot lead 👌 #DubaiInvitational pic.twitter.com/Z5REGfefVn
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) January 12, 2024
But neither was he moved nor did this accident affect his game. He fulfilled, not like on Thursday, the obligation to score birdies on the par 5s of the second nine, almost made a hole in one at 14 (he went long and signed the par) and let another success escape a meter at 15, then compensated with a pure shot at nine meters at 16 to consolidate his leadership with -10, the only one in double digits. Now, behind him, seven rivals are already pushing two or three strokes away.
One of them is Jeff Winther (-8 and best round of the day with five less along with Joost Luiten), who played excellent golf with six birdies in 15 flags and happily went to rest despite the stumble at 18, where he had to play the ball to the street with the second shot and finally scored the only blot of the day. Yannik Paul (-8) goes hand in hand with the Dane. The German wants Luke Donald to keep him very present for the New York Ryder Cup and his debut in this 2024 is being very notable. Four birdies and three bogeys keep him in the second box of the table thanks to his impressive first day at this Dubai Invitational, where the light morning breeze turned into an uncomfortable little wind that left the greens like real stones.
With seven less, Tommy Fleetwood, Jordan Smith, Thorbjorn Olesen, Thriston Lawrence and Zander Lombard want mambo at the weekend. The five are opponents to consider for Rory and more considering that some train on this course during the year.
Guaranteed reliability. That could be the claim of Adrián Otaegui (-5). Tenth, the Guipuzcoan lived with ease the first two thirds of the Dubai course with a solitary birdie (2) and a handful of pars until 11, missing a great opportunity at 3. Then, logically, a certain swell came with the bogeys of 12 and 14 after bad starts, but in between he plugged in a six-meter putt for birdie and another similar one at 17 to finish under par and with the confidence tank full to the brim.
Jorge Campillo (-2) reproaches himself for the bad ending because he could have finished on par with Otaegui. Starting at 10, the Caceres man visited the water several times (10, 18 and 8), although the first two times he saved par, while at the penultimate flag he did score a painful double bogey, just after another mistake at 7 after missing a close par putt. Even so, his round was previously solid, with a given birdie at 16 and another at 2, showing off his good aim with the irons; he pricked at 3 but recovered with a hit at 4 and a pure shot for birdie at 5 from 12 meters before that bad final sequence, despite the relief of the birdie at 9. Twentieth, he has a lot of ground to make up.
Pablo Larrazábal (PAR), Nacho Elvira (+1) and Adri Arnaus (+3) did not have brilliant rounds. And that’s even though the Barcelona man started strong with a birdie at 2 and almost an eagle with a little chip at 4. At 6 he missed the birdie and stumbled at 9. He forgave another at 13 a meter and a half and at that moment the chain came off with three consecutive mistakes from 14 to 16. At least at 17 he signed a birdie that could have been two if he had put the 18 at 3.5 meters. Elvira only pocketed one birdie (on his last hole) and instead had four mistakes; Arnaus fixed the initial puncture with two birdies at 3 and 4, but then only suffered disappointments, with three more stains on his card for no joy.
