GOLF – ABU DHABI UPDATE: Rory McIlroy's stock continues to rise at pace and today the Holywood teenager ensured he'll head into the weekend just two shots off the lead in the Abu Dhabi Championship where world number three Pádraig Harrington made a bold move of his own.
Harrington carded no less than seven birdies with just the one dropped shot coming at the 16th in a round of 66. He bounced back from the bogey with a couple of closing birdies and at seven-under par he’s just four shots off the lead held by Australia’s Richard Green and England’s Graeme Storm, who carded 65 and 64 respectively.
With light fading quickly the British Open and US PGA champion played the final two holes at speed to ensure a few extra hours in bed tomorrow. Yesterday’s two-hour delay due to hailstorms meant half the 120-strong field had to return to the course this morning to finish their first round before the second round got underway.
McIlroy was one of those players and the 19-year-old wasted little time getting down to business. He picked up birdies at the 15th and long 18th to match the opening six-under 66s of Swedes Johan Edfors and Mikael Lundberg.
In a quick turnaround McIlroy then set off from the 10th for his second round and recorded birdies at the 11th, his second, first and eighth before signing for a bogey-free 69. That left him nine-under and two shots off the pace .
At one point McIlroy shared the lead with Casey on eight-under but a trio of birdies from the second, his 11th, plus and outward nine in four-under 32 had moved the Ryder Cup player into a tie for the lead on 10-under with fellow countryman Anthony Wall (67). The pair were later overtaken by Green and Storm.
Gary Murphy had a roller-coaster round with six birdies and as many dropped shots before eventually signing for a level par 72. That meant the Kilkenny pro remained on three-under and safely inside the projected cut. World number two Sergio Garcia was also three-under after a 71.
Paul McGinley and Damien McGrane will also be around for the weekend after shooting 73 and 72 respectively. Peter Lawrie’s situation is a little more precarious as the Dubliner was one-under, the projected cut mark, after a 70.
Colin Montgomerie, strongly linked with the 2010 European Ryder Cup captaincy today, moved up the leaderboard to five-under after his 67.
Play has finished for the day due to darkness with 25 players still to complete their second rounds.
LEADERBOARD (second round resumes tomorrow morning, Ireland and Britain unless stated)
11 under:Richard Green (Aus) 68 65, Graeme Storm 69 64.
10 under:Paul Casey 69 65, Anthony Wall 67 67.
9 under:Johan Edfors (Swe) 66 69,
Rory McIlroy 66 69, Brett Rumford (Aus) 68 67, Mikael Lundberg (Swe) (after 34 holes).
8 under:Martin Kaymer (Ger) 68 68, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 67 69, Oliver Fisher (34).
7 under:Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 68 69, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 67 70, Anders Hansen (Den) 70 67, Soren Hansen (Den) 71 66,
Pádraig Harrington 71 66, Danny Willett 71 66.
6 under:Peter Hanson (Swe) 67 71, Danny Lee (NZ, am) 68 70, Francesco Molinari (Ita) (34).
Other Irish scores:-3 Gary Murphy 69 72; -2 Paul McGinley 69 73, Damien McGrane 70 72; -1 Peter Lawrie 73 70.
Cut is currently projected at -1
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