Dubai: Defending champion Henrik Stenson shot a six-under par 66 to hoist himself to the top of the leader board, while being chased by a clutch of challengers that included former champion Rory McIlroy at the end of the second day at the DP World Tour Championship on Friday.
The 38-year-old Stenson, the first winner of a ‘historic double’ last season, rattled up birdies on the opening two holes, followed by five more on the fifth, 10th, 13th, 16th and the final hole for a two-day total of 134 to stand as sole leader with two more days of golf remaining.
In July last year, Stenson finished runner-up at the Open to move up to third in the official World Golf Ranking. He went on to win the US PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup and the European Tour’s Race to Dubai, thus becoming the first player to win both in the same season.
Chasing the sole leader in joint second and two shots behind was the trio of Danny Willett, Richie Ramsay and McIlroy who was already declared winner of the 2014 Race to Dubai last week. Another bunch of five — Rafa Cabrera-Bello, Justin Rose, Kristoffer Broberg, Thornbjorn Olesen and Shane Lowry — followed with a score of 137.
Stenson was pleased with the way his game plan has worked so far. “It was a pretty solid round of golf, but more than anything, it was made on the grass. I was hitting it all right, but I was good on the greens today,” Stenson said.
Last year, the Swede shot 25-under par over four days to claim his double, leaving him hoping for similar form this season too. “I just came in knowing that I got a good game plan to play on this golf course and I’m trying to stick to that. So far, so good, so I’m sticking with that and making no changes really and hopefully I keep on producing birdies,” he said.
With another two days to go, McIlroy was content being close to the leader. “I just didn’t quite have it. I guess you’re going to get rounds like that when you’re coming back from a little bit of a lay-off. I felt like I did well. I grinded out a score which was the main thing. I’m still pretty close to the lead and there’s still 36 holes to go, so I’m still in a good position,” the Northern Irishman said.
Going into the final event of the season, McIlroy insisted he did not want to make too many changes. “I think it’s just sticking to what you’ve been thinking about during your golf swing and not really second-guessing yourself or doubting yourself at all. But I started to hit some better shots on the back nine and I’m sure tomorrow [Saturday] I’ll hit a few more,” McIlroy said.
