Nicolai Hojgaard holds a three-shot lead at the halfway stage of the DP World Tour Championship, with Rory McIlroy still well placed as he pushes for the Race to Dubai title.
Hojgaard produced a bogey-free 65 at Jumeirah Golf Estates, including an eagle and five birdies, to move to 12 under. McIlroy carded a 69, mixing six birdies with three bogeys, and sits three shots back on nine under after an erratic but resilient round in which he struggled with approaches but holed several important putts.
The world No 2 shares second place with Ryder Cup team-mates Justin Rose and Shane Lowry, plus Rasmus Neegaard-Petersen and Daniel Hillier. A group a shot further back on eight under includes Tommy Fleetwood, Robert MacIntyre, Alex Noren and Laurie Canter.
McIlroy is chasing a fourth successive Race to Dubai crown, which would leave him one behind Colin Montgomerie’s record of eight Order of Merit titles. Tyrrell Hatton and Marco Penge are the only players who could still finish above him in the season standings; Hatton, who needs a win and favourable results, is tied-11th after a five-under 67, while Penge, on 767 points, is tied-44th at level par and appears out of contention.
Hojgaard began the day three strokes back but surged ahead early, following a birdie at the first with a superb eagle at the par-five second and adding three birdies in a five-hole stretch to reach the turn in 30. He closed out his clean card by taking advantage of the par-five 14th and scrambling a par at the last, seeking his fourth DP World Tour victory and first since winning this event two years ago.
Neergaard-Petersen had a run of three holes in four under that briefly lifted him within one of Hojgaard, but a bogey at the par-five 18th left him three adrift. Rose threatened early after holing a 65-foot putt among five birdies in his opening seven holes and later produced another big putt to save par at the 14th after finding water. Lowry posted a blemish-free round.
McIlroy battled tougher conditions and some poor lies compared to the opening round but praised his patience. “I had to battle a little more today than I did yesterday. If you looked at the scoring yesterday compared to today, it is a little bit tougher,” he said. “I missed a couple more fairways today. And when I did miss the fairways, I got some really bad lies, like the worst lies I’ve seen this week. I felt like I showed my scoring skills today, battled well, stayed patient, and got the ball up-and-down when I needed to.”
Hojgaard said the event and course are among his favourites and that patience has been key. “It’s one of my favourite tournaments and favourite courses to play. It’s good to be back this year in a little bit of form. Just happy to be here. I know there’s plenty of chances out there. It’s easy to make a silly bogey out of being a little bit too aggressive, so trying to navigate my way out there a little bit. Staying patient has probably been the highlight so far.”
Four strokes separate the top 10 at the halfway point. First-round leader Michael Kim slipped out of the top 20 after following an opening 64 with a four-over 76. Live coverage of the DP World Tour Championship continues on Sky Sports.