Elvis Smylie has overcome a blip on the inward stretch of his second round to still be in the hunt for the jackpot first prize at the Abu Dhabi Championship on a day when a rare albatross was espied on the celebrated Yas Links course.
Australian Smylie hadn't dropped a shot over his first 28 holes at Yas Links as he moved into contention at 11 under, but a couple of bogeys over the next four holes stalled his momentum in the chase for the $US1.53 million ($A2.35 million) winner's cheque.
Still, the 23-year-old left-hander regrouped to birdie the 17th, only being left frustrated to miss a six-and-a-half foot birdie putt at the last which still left him with a four-under round of 68.
That put Smylie on 10 under at halfway, tied for 10th, four shots adrift of the co-leaders, in-form Tommy Fleetwood and Aaron Rai, who provided the highlight of the day with his extraordinary albatross two on the 638-yard, par-5 second hole.
“You couldn’t see it from the back of the fairway, so it was a nice surprise,” said Rai, who holed out from 214 yards after his approach pitched a few yards onto the green then rolled down into the cup.
Fleetwood shot a 66 while Rai's albatross helped him to a brilliant eight-under 64, as the English pair opened up a two-shot lead over their pursuers, with their nearest challengers being Englishman Andy Sullivan (67), South African Richard Sterne (68) and Dane Nicolai Hojgaard (67), all on 12 under.
In the penultimate event of the European tour circuit, Fleetwood, the FedEx champ and a dual winner in Abu Dhabi, looks the man to beat after he began his round with three straight birdies.
“I’m having a lot of good rounds,” he said, reflecting on his brilliant second half of the season which has also featured him being the top points scorer in Europe's Ryder Cup win in September as well as the India Championship winner last month.
“But I’m not stupid, and it’s bitten me enough times.”
World No.2 Rory McIlroy shot a second straight 68 to be in striking range at eight under overall.
He leads the Race to Dubai standings and is attempting to win the order of merit on the European tour for a seventh time, which would put him just one behind Colin Montgomerie's record haul.
Marco Penge (68) is McIlroy's nearest rival in the Race to Dubai and is a stroke ahead of the Northern Irishman, having played in the same group alongside the Masters champion for the first two days.
With agencies
