ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Aaron Rai holed out from 214 yards for an albatross in his 8-under 64 that left him tied for the lead with fellow Englishman Tommy Fleetwood after the second round of the Abu Dhabi Championship on Friday.
Rai’s second shot at the par-5 No. 2 pitched a few yards onto the green then rolled down into the cup at Yas Links Golf Club.
“You couldn’t see it from the back of the fairway, so it was a nice surprise,” said Rai, who started his bogey-free round two strokes off the lead at the next-to-last event of the European tour’s 2025 season.
Fleetwood, the winner in 2017 and ’18, was one of five players in a share of the lead after an opening-round 64 and the FedEx Cup champion added a 66 – helped by birdies at his first three holes – to move to 14 under for the week alongside Rai.
“I’m having a lot of good rounds,” Fleetwood said of his strong finish to the season, which has included being the top points scorer in Europe’s Ryder Cup win in September and winning the India Championship last month. “But I’m not stupid, and it’s bitten me enough times.”
Three players – Andy Sullivan (67), Nicolai Hojgaard (67) and Richard Sterne (68) – were two strokes back, while Shane Lowry was one of four players a further shot behind after a 69.
No. 2-ranked Rory McIlroy shot a second straight 68 and was 8 under overall, six strokes behind Rai and Fleetwood.
McIlroy leads the Race to Dubai standings and is attempting to win the season-long points race on the European tour for a seventh time, which would put him just one behind Colin Montgomerie’s record haul.
Marco Penge (68) is McIlroy’s nearest rival in the Race to Dubai and is a stroke ahead of the Northern Irishman, having played in the same group for the first two days.
