Rory McIlroy Shakes Off Quadruple Bogey, Maintains Lead at Dubai Invitational

McIlroy is 12 under par and ahead by two shots through 36 holes in Dubai.

Rory McIlroy overcame windy conditions and a quadruple bogey to get to 12 under par and hold his two-shot lead heading into the weekend at the Dubai Invitational.

The No. 2-ranked player in the Official World Ranking and SI World Golf Rankings shot a bogey-free 62 to begin the defense of his Race to Dubai title on the DP World Tour.

But he slipped into a four-way tie during the second round Friday at Dubai Creek Resort, after twice hitting into the water at the eighth.

The four-time major winner recovered with three birdies on the back nine to sign for a 70 and lead German Yannik Paul and Dane Jeff Winther, who are at 10 under.

Rory McIlroy leads through 36 holes in Dubai / USA Today

McIlroy has an excellent record in the United Arab Emirates, winning the Hero Dubai Desert Classic three times and the DP World Tour Championship twice, and now he goes into the weekend chasing a 17th DP World Tour title. He defends his Desert Classic title next week.

“I think if I look at the other 17 holes that I played, I played very, very well again. Hit some good iron shots,” McIlroy said via a DP World Tour report.

“Played not too dissimilarly to the way I played yesterday. I maybe holed a couple more putts yesterday. But the conditions were getting a little trickier. Wind was up. Greens were firm and a couple of miscues on the 8th hole.

“I felt like I did well just to get my head back into it and play some solid golf on the way in, and everyone seemed to find it a little more difficult today than yesterday. So, it's nice to go into the weekend still with the lead.”

English duo Tommy Fleetwood and Jordan Smith, South African pair Thriston Lawrence and Zander Lombard and Dane Thorbjørn Olesen are at seven under, a shot clear of Rasmus Højgaard, also from Denmark.