Antoine Rozner sparkles with flawless 65 in Dubai

Antoine Rozner produced a flawless second round of 65 to earn a one-shot lead at the DP World Tour Championship.

The Frenchman could only have dreamt of being at the top of the leaderboard at this stage when teeing up at the 15th hole at two over par on the first day.

However, he finished with four straight birdies, including a missed eagle putt from six feet at the last, which proved to be the catalyst for his sparkling Friday on the Earth course.

The 31-year-old rolled in seven birdies to card the lowest round of the week at Jumeirah Golf Estates and sits one clear of Ryder Cup stars Tyrrell Hatton and Rory McIlroy at nine under par.

"I think with my caddy [Patxi Londaitz] we had really good fun, and yeah, it was one of those days where everything goes right and took advantage of it. It was a lot of fun," he said.

Storming up the leaderboard on Friday 📈#DPWTC #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/nNjVtcFJDk

— DP World Tour Championship (@dpwtc) November 15, 2024

Rozner had to wait until the fifth to get into the red numbers when he rolled in from five feet before kicking on just before the turn.

His second birdie came from a 26 foot putt at the ninth, rolled in another from nine feet at the tenth before completing a hat-trick at the next to reach six under.

The World Number 154 added another gain at the 14th and you could sense the relief on his face when he rattled in another birdie at the 15th with a putt which would have certainly raced off the green had it not gone in.

At eight under, he was tied at the top with Paul Waring and McIlroy, but Rozner saved his best for the 16th.

He was inches from holing out for eagle and when he tapped in for a third straight birdie, he was the outright leader.

Moments later, both Waring and McIlroy dropped shots at the tenth to hand a two-shot advantage to Rozner, who parred the final two holes to set the clubhouse target at nine under.

McIlroy made a fast start with three birdies in his first four holes to take control of the tournament. Another followed at the seventh to climb to nine under, only to bogey the eighth and tenth to gift the lead to Rozner.

He parred his way to the par-five last, where he produced a stellar second shot inside 15 feet and brushed the left edge of the cup with the eagle putt which would have seen him rejoin the lead.

Hatton had to grind his way into contention after bogeying the fourth, hitting back by draining a monster 43 foot birdie putt at the sixth before adding another at the eighth.

The World Number 18 holed from eight feet at the tenth to pick up a shot and when he holed a clutch putt from eight feet for birdie at the 15th, he was one adrift of Rozner.

Chile's Joaquin Niemann, the ISPS HANDA Australian Open winner last December, carded an eagle, five birdies and two bogeys in his 67 to sit at seven under in sole fourth.

Dane Rasmus Højgaard, Sweden's Jesper Svensson and Irishman Shane Lowry all carded second-round 67s to climb to six under, with Japan's Keita Nakajima also at that mark.

English trio Waring, Tommy Fleetwood and Matt Wallace round off the top ten, four shots off the lead.

⛳️ How it stands at the halfway point 📊

Full leaderboard 👇https://t.co/UmwOMmVHCN pic.twitter.com/CXpbKQT7pf

— DP World Tour Championship (@dpwtc) November 15, 2024