Belgian Ryder Cup star Thomas Pieters leads the way on 12 under par heading into the weekend at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship presented by EGA after a second round seven under par 65 opened up a one-stroke lead over Spain’s Jorge Campillo, with day one leader Tommy Fleetwood two strokes back on 10 under par.
Fleetwood, who turned 27 today, is well placed alongside compatriot Ross Fisher and France’s Alex Levy while two-time champion Paul Casey is on nine under par alongside four others, including four-time Major champion Rory McIlroy.
World Number One Dustin Johnson had a superb day, following his opening round of level par 72 with a stunning 64 to sit on eight under par alongside the likes of Branden Grace and Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston.
Positive Mind-Set
“I’m in a positive mind-set, keeping calm, knowing I’ve done well here in the past and that the course suits me. The greens are perfect, the weather’s perfect,” said Pieters after his round. “I’m striking the ball well and I hit 16 greens today. That all helps. Off the tee I was decent and I rolled in a couple of putts which was nice. So now I am going to eat, practise, and make sure I don’t hook and slice it anymore, and I’ll be ready for tomorrow.”
Headlining Pack
The Olympic trio of Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson and Matt Kuchar struggled to keep up with the headlining pack, with Rose and Kuchar just managing to make the cut on two-under. Stenson sits on six under par and is still in contention, six strokes off the lead, while the likes of Graeme McDowell, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and former winners Jamie Donaldson and Robert Rock all failed to make the weekend.
