Paul Waring takes five-shot lead with brilliant second round

Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship R2

Paul Waring fired an eagle at the par-4 6th as well as nine birdies to close with a bogey-free 61 and take a five-shot lead into the weekend at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

This new course-record is also the lowest round of the Englishman’s DP World Tour career. His 19-under halfway total is the lowest in relation to par in DP World Tour history.

“In total honesty I’m just trying to keep going, keep making birdies. My caddie made the remark a few days ago, we played a little bit golf at Trump over in Dubai and we played the Fire Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates as well and for those two rounds, I actually had 50 per cent birdies,” said Waring.

“We were having a bit of a laugh yesterday [Thursday] because I had nine birdies so that was 50 per cent, so he said today, right, every round, you’ve got to better 50 per cent birdies.

“Obviously feel great, swinging it great. Putter is behaving. That’s I’d say a weak spot for me now and again but I’ve done a lot of work on it, and since moving over to Dubai I’m very used to these style of greens as well.

“I’ve got a nice lead at the moment but even before I tee off tomorrow, someone might have caught me. So if I’m going to be involved on Sunday afternoon I’ve still got to keep going the way I am.”

Compatriot Tommy Fleetwood who held the overnight lead by one shot after an opening round 62 made two bogeys and closed with a 68. He moved down into a share of second place at 14-under alongside American Johannes Veerman whose 67 featured a bogey and Denmark’s Niklas Norgaard who signed for a bogey-free 65.

Englishmen Laurie Canter (67), Tyrrell Hatton (68) and Matt Wallace (65) are all tied in sixth place at 12-under alongside France’s Ugo Coussaud who carded a bogey-free 64 featuring an eagle at the par-5 2nd.

Race to Dubai leader Rory McIlroy shot another 67 after a triple-bogey at the par-3 17th and lies in T14 at 10-under.

“There wasn’t a lot of sand where the ball was and I just sort of made a mess of it from there, but bounced back well to birdie the last.”

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Pos.PlayerTo ParR1R2
1WARING, Paul-196461
2VEERMAN, Johannes-146367
NORGAARD, Niklas-146565
FLEETWOOD, Tommy-146268
OLESEN, Thorbjørn-146367
6CANTER, Laurie-126468
COUSSAUD, Ugo-126864
HATTON, Tyrrell-126468
WALLACE, Matt-126765
10SÖDERBERG, Sebastian-116667
MACINTYRE, Robert-116568
LAPORTA, Francesco-116469
LAWRENCE, Thriston-116766
14GARCIA-HEREDIA, Alfredo-106767
WIESBERGER, Bernd-106866
MCILROY, Rory-106767
17MANSELL, Richard-97263
PAUL, Yannik-96768
SMITH, Jordan-96867
FERGUSON, Ewen-96867
LOWRY, Shane-96966
OTAEGUI, Adrian-96669
SADDIER, Adrien-96768
NAKAJIMA, Keita-96768
HIDALGO, Angel-96768
26LEE, Min Woo-86967
SIEM, Marcel-86571
LUITEN, Joost-86769
SULLIVAN, Andy-86967
JORDAN, Matthew-86670
STONE, Brandon-86670
DEL REY, Alejandro-87066
HØJGAARD, Nicolai-87165
SVENSSON, Jesper-87066
35LANGASQUE, Romain-76770
ELVIRA, Nacho-76968
MCKIBBIN, Tom-76869
MICHELUZZI, David-76968
39FITZPATRICK, Alex-66672
ROZNER, Antoine-67365
HOSHINO, Rikuya-67068
JARVIS, Casey-67068
SCOTT, Adam-67167
WINTHER, Jeff-67167
NIEMANN, Joaquin-66672
DEAN, Joe-67167
HØJGAARD, Rasmus-66672
48SCHAPER, Jayden-56970
BALDWIN, Matthew-56970
CAMPILLO, Jorge-57168
MIGLIOZZI, Guido-56871
52FRITTELLI, Dylan-47070
DETRY, Thomas-47268
GREEN, Gavin-46971
COCKERILL, Aaron-46971
56CROCKER, Sean-36873
RAVETTO, David-37170
LACROIX, Frederic-36972
BRADBURY, Dan-37269
60GUERRIER, Julien-27369
SYME, Connor-27171
HILL, Calum-27864
63ROSE, Justin-16974
BAIRSTOW, Sam-16974
MERONK, Adrian-17172
66SHARMA, ShubhankarPar7173
VAN DRIEL, DariusPar7074
MANASSERO, MatteoPar7074
69BROWN, Daniel+16976
70FORREST, Grant+27373
Updated: November 8, 2024
Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship 2024
Date: 7th November - 10th November, 2024
Location: Yas Links, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Purse: $9,000,000