Nicolai Hojgaard will start moving day at the DP World Tour Championship with a three-stroke lead over a group including Rory McIlroy as he bids to reclaim the season-ending title.
The Dane shot a seven-under 65 to move to 12-under at the end of Round 2 at Jumeirah Golf Estates.
McIlroy is in a group of five players on nine-under, which includes his Ryder Cup teammates Shane Lowry and Justin Rose, as well as Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen and Daniel Hillier.
Hojgaard won the championship two years ago, while his brother Rasmus was runner-up to McIlroy 12 months back.
“It's great to be back,” Hojgaard said. “It's one of my favourite tournaments and favourite courses to play.
“It's good to be back this year in a little bit of form, so I am just happy to be here.”
Hojgaard said he feels the Earth Course fits his game. “You talk about golf course that suits your eye, and I really like it off the tee,” he said.
“I feel like it's a position golf course as well. It's a mix of driver down to 4-iron. And it plays into my strength, which is mid-irons. It's just a really good fit for me.”
The scoring onslaught was not as dramatic as it had been on Thursday’s opening day. Tommy Fleetwood had a rare round in the 70s, as he carded an eagle, a bogey, and 16 pars.
Overnight leader Michael Kim followed his opening day round of eight-under with an erratic, four-over-par 76.
Even the three-time champion McIlroy was relatively becalmed, although he said he was pleased with how he battled for his score of 69.
“I missed a couple more fairways today, and when I did miss the fairways, I got some really bad lies, like the worst lies I've seen this week,” McIlroy said.
“I didn't even get it back on to the fairway at the last and had to scramble there. But I felt like I showed my scoring skills today, battled well and stayed patient, and got the ball up-and-down when I needed to.
“Overall to shoot 69, I'm pretty pleased considering some of the spots that I found myself.”
While he faces a battle to retain his Tour Championship title, a seventh Race to Dubai title – and fourth in a row – is all but assured.
His lead at the top of the standings is all but unassailable given his closest competitor, Marco Penge, has struggled over the opening two days of the season’s finale.
The Englishman made a two-under in his second round, advancing his score to level par for the tournament. That leaves him nine shots, and 42 places, behind McIlroy.
