In the second round of the Dubai Invitational, world No. 2 Rory McIlroy made a series of mistakes and got caught in the water four times in the second round, losing the lead with a 3-over 74.
McIlroy bogeyed three of his final five holes (including back-to-back drop shots on Nos. 17 and 18) and fell back to a tie for fifth, but his great buddy and Ryder Cup teammate Shane Lowry rocketed up the leaderboard to take a share of the lead.
Lowry and Spain’s Nacho Elvira each posted six strokes behind last night’s leader McIlroy on the second day, posting three-under 68s to move into a tie for the lead at five under.
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McIlroy finds water on the 6th, 13th, 14th and 17th holes on day two of the Dubai Invitational at Dubai Creek
Lowry and Elvira battled windy conditions at Dubai Creek to rise to the top, with Lowry aiming for his first DP World Tour title since winning the 2022 BMW PGA Championship.
The 38-year-old started the day three shots behind, but came out on top after a great round with five birdies and two bogeys.
“I’m very happy. It’s been tough. It’s been tough,” Lowry said. “If I can play golf with that mindset for the rest of the season, I’m going to get a lot better.
“The first tournament of the year you never know what’s going to happen, so it’s great to be in the final group on Saturday and if we keep doing that we’ll see what happens.”
After Antoine Rozner, who started on the back nine, picked up shots on the 10th and 12th to move up to 5 under, McIlroy needed a birdie on the third to regain the one-shot lead.
McIlroy led the way at 5 under after the first round in Dubai, but was three strokes off the pace on Friday.
The Northern Irishman briefly extended his advantage to two when Rozner made double bogey on the 13th, but dropped a shot on the sixth to halve the lead.
McIlroy sank a difficult par putt on No. 9 and was soon tied at 4 under with Thriston Lawrence, who had a birdie on No. 5.
Lowry, who dropped one spot with a bogey on the 9th, made a birdie putt on the 10th to tie the score, and Marcus Armitage joined the pack with his fourth score of the day on the 4th.
Shane Lowry holds share of lead heading into third day of Dubai Invitational
However, Lawrence and McIlroy bogeyed the par-3 14th, and Armitage also bogeyed the ninth and final hole, dropping him to three under, leaving Lowry alone at the top of the leaderboard.
Lowry and McIlroy birdied the 16th, and McIlroy hit the water for the fourth time on the day on the 17th, making back-to-back bogeys and falling behind by three.
The Irishman made par on the way home to join Elvira, who birdied four of the remaining six holes to reach the clubhouse goal of 5 under.
Briton Armitage is tied for third place with David Puig on three under par, while McIlroy is one stroke behind Lawrence, Rozner and Angel Ayola.
Watch the Dubai Invitational live all week on Sky Sports. Live coverage will continue on Sky Sports Golf from 7.30am on Saturday. Stream the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, LPGA Tour, and more now.
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