Saturday 22 November 2014 08:41, UK
Rory McIlroy insisted he was happy with his position heading into the weekend at the DP World Tour Championship despite an erratic second round in Dubai.
McIlroy had shared the overnight lead with Shane Lowry after a faultless opening 66, but his all-round game was slightly askew on day two as he scrapped his way to a two-under 70.
He suffered the humiliation of a chunked second shot with a five-wood at the long seventh which he described as a "a fat, low, duck-hook runner that was not intentional".
This year’s Race to Dubai champion dropped his first shot of the week at the 12th before hitting back with birdies at 14 and 15, although he three-putted the next and salvaged a par at the last after driving into water.
McIlroy's up-and-down at the last kept him at eight under par, two shots behind defending champion Henrik Stenson, and the four-time major winner remains confident of rounding off a memorable year with his fifth victory.
"I'm in a good position and there is a lot of golf left," said McIlroy, who is playing in his first competitive tournament since finishing second at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship six weeks ago.
"I've definitely been in worse positions after two rounds and still won. It could have been worse but it probably could have been a little better. I definitely didn't have it like I did yesterday.
“I had to dig in a little bit so hopefully that's the bad one out of the way and I have 36 holes now to make some ground up on Henrik.
"Henrik's very comfortable on this golf course obviously. I can't let him get too far ahead tomorrow. I have to get off to a fast start and try and put a bit of pressure on him. Hopefully I can do that."
Lowry, meanwhile, slipped down the leaderboard with three bogeys over the first four holes before he revived his challenge with a birdie at the ninth and a sensational hole-in-one at the 13th.
The Irishman's pure six-iron at the 183-yard par-three never left the flag and pitched six feet short of the pin before rolling into the centre of the cup for his first ace on the European Tour.
"It was a beautiful shot, a perfect number for my six iron," said Lowry, who parred the final five holes to post a 71 which left him three shots off the lead.
"It's my first in tournament play and only my second ever so it was pretty exciting. It was hard to go on and play the next hole after that.
Speaking about his round after starting the day tied for the lead, he added: "I am still in the tournament and I suppose if you had given me that on Thursday I would have taken it."
