Patrick Reed has maintained his one-shot lead over England's Andy Sullivan at the Dubai Desert Classic after a bogey-free second round, but Rory McIlroy is seven shots off the pace.
Reed carded a score of 66 to move nine under par and maintain his advantage. The 35-year-old American, who won the Masters in 2018, hopes to improve on his second-place finish from three years ago.
Sullivan fired a 65 to equal Francesco Molinari's score from the previous day, which had given him the top spot. He registered four birdies, three bogeys and an eagle at the 18th hole. This has boosted his challenge for a fifth DP World Tour success.
McIlroy shot a three-under-par 69, improving on his one-over-par score from Thursday by a significant margin. The five-time major champion took confidence from coming back to win two years ago in the event, one of four previous triumphs.
The Northern Irish player picked up shots at six holes and dropped strokes at three others during his round. He acknowledged that conditions became trickier as the day went on when the wind increased in the back nine.
Reed is now leading by just a single shot over Sullivan. Several golfers are closely following, including Andrea Pavan and Francesco Molinari, who both sit one behind Sullivan, as well as Nicolai Hojgaard, who is in fifth place with six under par.
Reed carded a score of 66 to move nine under par and maintain his advantage. The 35-year-old American, who won the Masters in 2018, hopes to improve on his second-place finish from three years ago.
Sullivan fired a 65 to equal Francesco Molinari's score from the previous day, which had given him the top spot. He registered four birdies, three bogeys and an eagle at the 18th hole. This has boosted his challenge for a fifth DP World Tour success.
McIlroy shot a three-under-par 69, improving on his one-over-par score from Thursday by a significant margin. The five-time major champion took confidence from coming back to win two years ago in the event, one of four previous triumphs.
The Northern Irish player picked up shots at six holes and dropped strokes at three others during his round. He acknowledged that conditions became trickier as the day went on when the wind increased in the back nine.
Reed is now leading by just a single shot over Sullivan. Several golfers are closely following, including Andrea Pavan and Francesco Molinari, who both sit one behind Sullivan, as well as Nicolai Hojgaard, who is in fifth place with six under par.
after two rounds he's so consistent! i was thinking about my math test yesterday and how some ppl just need to focus on their game like reed does lol anyway, reed's score of 66 is insane 
and i'm glad he's hoping to do better than last time. sullivan's got a good chance too, his eagle at the 18th hole was sick 
but what's with mcilroy not being more aggressive? he shot 69 which is still decent but like where's the risk-taking? 
, it seems kinda boring for a modern event... shouldn't be just 3 rounds like most of the big ones? or maybe even a "stroke play" format where they just keep playing till the lowest score wins? i think it would increase excitement and make golf more relatable to casual viewers.
to turn his game around and make a move. I mean, he shot a 69 which is like totally respectable but still so far behind from the top spot 
. What happened to his game last round tho? 
still not sure how he's gonna bounce back from that but I'm rooting for him 
. This tournament is getting more intense by the minute 
gotta keep watching and see what unfolds! 
and rory needs to step it up if he wanna catch him 
hopefully it'll be a great finish at the end of this tournament 
he's been so consistent this week and now he's just one shot ahead of andy sullivan 
but seriously its so exciting to watch rory mcilroy come back like that tho 