Friday 1 November 2019 09:26, UK
Matt Fitzpatrick birdied his final two holes to move into a one-shot lead over Rory McIlroy at the halfway stage of the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai.
Fitzpatrick's fast finish closed out a bogey-free 67 and took the 25-year-old to 11 under at Sheshan International Golf Club, with McIlroy his closest challenger after a second successive 67.
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Defending champion Xander Schauffele is two strokes off the pace in tied-third alongside Adam Scott and Sungjae Im, with overnight leader Haotong Li and France's Victor Perez a further shot back on eight under.
Starting the day two strokes back, Fitzpatrick made a four-foot birdie at the third before ending a run of pars by rolling in from six feet at the par-four 12th.
Fitzpatrick holed a long-range birdie at the 13th and drained a 25-footer to save par at the 16th after electing to putt from the rough, before following a birdie-two at the 17th with a final-hole gain to set the clubhouse target.
McIlroy had briefly moved in to a two-stroke advantage after posting four consecutive birdies from the third, including one from long-range at the fourth, only to fail to get up and down from the rough to save par at the ninth.
The world No 2 cancelled out a 10-foot birdie at the 13th by hitting his tee shot at the driveable 16th into trees and having to return to the tee, although saved the best until last by knocking his approach at the par-five 18th to three feet to set up a closing eagle.
Im birdied his first four holes on his way to a three-under 69, with a penultimate-hole bogey dropping him back to nine under with Scott and Schauffele, birdied three of his final holes to match the South Korean's total.
A round-of-the-day 65 lifted England's Paul Waring inside the top-10, while Justin Rose birdied two of this final three holes to post a two-under 70 and head into the weekend six shots adrift.
Watch the WGC-HSBC Champions throughout the week live on Sky Sports. Live coverage continues on Saturday from 2.30am on Sky Sports Golf.
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