McIlroy Shaves Four Strokes, Chases Rahm and Hatton in Abu Dhabi

Rory McIlroy shot a 63 on Friday at Yas Links, a personal best for the DP World Tour that moved him to 11 under par.

The round followed a contentious start to the tournament. On Thursday, McIlroy received a two-stroke penalty on the par-4 12th hole for improving his lie. He accepted the ruling to avoid questions about fairness, adjusting his opening round score from a double bogey to an eight. This left him starting Friday at 2 under par rather than a higher total.

The shift in his game was immediate. After an unplayable lie caused a bogey on the first hole, McIlroy recorded 11 birdies for the remainder of the day. He credited the turnaround to a week spent working with coach Brad Faxon, specifically on his putting. McIlroy noted that his putts were dropping in at a rate he had not seen in the prior couple of months. This improvement followed a second-place finish at Wentworth and a difficult stretch in India where his short game had stalled.

At the top of the leaderboard, Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton share the lead at 12 under par. Both players returned to the European circuit after serving as teammates on the LIV Golf tour for the Legion XIII squad. Their Friday rounds featured eight birdies each. Hatton committed to a single bogey, while Rahm carded three bogeys alongside his birdies. Francesco LaPorta of Italy also sits in the lead group at 12 under, creating a three-way tie entering the weekend.

Rahm described his play as comfortable, though he flagged a few unexpected tee shots as the main area for correction. He stated that he felt fairly comfortable with the rest of his game despite the minor setbacks. McIlroy trails the leaders by a single stroke and is now focused on the Race to Dubai standings.

The season-long title race remains tight. Eugenio Chacarra leads the Race to Dubai at 3 under par. Patrick Reed sits second at 1 over par. McIlroy, the seven-time winner of the series, plays the weekend rounds with a one-shot deficit to the tournament leaders and a specific goal in the cumulative standings.