Rory McIlroy falls as Europeans grab halfway lead at Abu Dhabi Golf Championship: Live Leaderboard Part-1
Europeans are teaming up at the top of the leaderboard in the second round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, as the overnight wonder boy Rory McIlroy has now slipped down the ranks.
Dane Thorbjørn Olesen is the top performer of the day, pulling in a massive five-under, 67 on the second day and is currently leading the event through the halfway mark.
Olesen started off the day from front nine and was eight-under at one stage until the dreadful bogey on the last hole on the back.
The 22-year-old has been one of the rising stars of Denmark who pulled in three runner-up finishes on the European Tour last year, which was also his debut on the tour.
“I really like this course,” said Olesen. “It's very tough and everything is good about it. You need to be straight, you need to be a good putter, you need to be good all around your golf game, so I think it's a great test of golf”.
The young Dane blasted off with two consecutive birdies on the opening holes and another on the fourth before he fell for the first bogey of the day.
He quickly jolted back to form, carding another two before making the turn.
With another two birdies on the opening holes on the back, he played the rest of the round level-par until his misadventure on the penultimate hole.
Overnight co-leader Robert Karlsson is still hanging on tough on his first round lead. The giant Swede started off the day on the front, going against his strategy to play the back first, and pulled in two birdies before making the turn.
He has stumbled on a bogey on par-five, 10th and has still to play the rest of the eight holes on the back.
Northern Irishman Gareth Mayben, who surged to the top of the leaderboard yesterday, finishing for joint second, is still hanging in tough, with two birdies on the back.
He played the whole front nine without a birdie and has still to play the rest of the six holes.
Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Gonnet was another interesting performer on the second day, who threw himself in contention earlier in the morning.
Playing the back nine first, Gonnet carded two birdies on the nine-hole stretch, without dropping a shot.
With a four-under, 68 on the previous day, he soared on the leaderboard on the second day, challenging the rest of the contenders in the field.
to be continued....
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