An up and down day two for Rory McIlroy

McIlroy opened up with a one under and started his second round 12 behind leader Cameron Young. McIlroy’s second shot at the first hole ended up in a greenside bunker but was successful in achieving a par. The second at Majlis is a reachable par four and McIlroy made his first birdie of the round. The four-time major winner was unsuccessful in taking advantage of the par five third hole after missing a short-range birdie putt. McIlroy played the first six holes in one under.

The seventh hole was McIlroy’s second birdie of the round to reach three under. The four-time major champion struggled to hit fairways on day two and this lead to his first bogey of day two at the extremely difficult eight hole. McIlroy missed another fairway at the ninth hole and finished the front nine with two bogeys in a row. The 10th hole at Majlis is a reachable par five and Dubai Desert Classic defending champion was forced to lay up due to a bad lie. McIlroy played an exceptional chip shot and returned to two under after 10 holes.

The Northern Irishman missed the green at the 11th hole and was unsuccessful in achieving a par. McIlroy played an incredible iron shot from 160 yards at the 12th hole but missed a seven foot birdie putt. The five-time Race to Dubai winner only had 195 yards for his second shot at par five 13th hole due to a massive drive. McIlroy made his second birdie on the back nine after an excellent up and down.

McIlroy’s long-range birdie putts at both 14th and 15th were extremely close to going in but had to settle for two pars. The last three holes at Majlis gives you birdie chances with two short par fours and a closing par five. The Northern Irishman was unlucky that his birdie effort didn’t go in at the 16th hole. McIlroy hit driver at the short par four 17th which came to rest in the rough and faced a bad lie. It took McIlroy three shots to find the 17th green but was successful in achieving a par.

McIlroy decided to hit 3 wood off the tee at the 18th which ended up in a bad lie. The four-time major champion laid up and hit an exceptional shot from 110 yards to set up a closing birdie. McIlroy held his birdie putt at the 18th to shoot a second round of 70. Over the first two days McIlroy has made 10 birdies in 2024 Hero Dubai Desert Classic but has also dropped seven shots. The Northern Irishman will start his third round 10 shots behind the lead.

McIlroy is capable of shooting a low score on Saturday as he can reduce Majlis layout to a par 67. McIlroy needs to hit more fairways on day three as you can’t be aggressive from the rough. McIlroy will get fresh greens with been out early and hopefully he makes a charge up the leaderboard on Saturday