Tommy Fleetwood will enter the weekend with a lead of at least 36 holes for the second consecutive tournament. The Briton posted a sensational 8-under 64 on Thursday and a 66 on Friday to maintain his overnight lead on 14 under with compatriot Aaron Rai in the middle of the 2025 Abu Dhabi Championship.
Of the five players in the lead after 18 holes, Fleetwood was the only one to maintain his position at the top of the leaderboard. Shane Lowry, his playing partner for the first two days, shot a second-round 69 to go 11 under, staying within shouting distance after players like Nikolaj Hejgaard (-12) and Alex Noren (-10) cracked the top 10.
“It’s a really good day,” Fleetwood said. “I got off to a perfect start, birdie, birdie, birdie, which was good, especially when you had a good round the day before. People often say it’s hard to follow up a good round with another good round, or follow up a bad round with another round.
“A good start was really important. I did a really good job. I hit a lot of good shots, but today I hit a few into the rough, but I read the lies really well. I felt like I did a great job of controlling the ball out of the rough, and I was really happy with that. I feel like I made some solid putts again. Six-under was a really good score.”
Fleetwood is expected to move up to fifth in the Race to Dubai standings if he maintains his victory. This is his second consecutive year in the Winner’s Circle and third in his last five Worldwide starts since his breakthrough win at the PGA Tour’s Tour Championship.
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But it is not given to him. Friday’s lie at Yas Links was spectacular in its own right. Hitting an albatross off the block from 218 yards on the par-5 second hole, the 30-year-old maintained his momentum throughout the round, eventually signing a 64 for the lowest round of the day.
“When you get close to the 18th green, let alone the 18th green, you know you had a good day,” Lai said. “The condition of the course is incredible. If you hit a lot of fairways, you definitely have control. The green complex here is also great, allowing you to use the slopes, change your flight, change the shape. I’m happy to play here and I’m happy to play well.”
Although the tournament leaderboard experienced some fluctuations on Friday, the race through the season continues as it has since the start of the week. Rory McIlroy shot a 68 in the second round to finish in the top 20 at 8 under. Meanwhile, his closest rival Marco Penzi matched his second round score and remained one lead over him at nine under.
“It was great,” Penge said. “Obviously it’s difficult when you’re trying to beat each other. So I didn’t want to get in the way too much and I didn’t want to ask too many questions. But he definitely gave me a lot of time and it was nice to walk down the fairway with him and hopefully we can spend more time together in the future and learn some tricks.”
