Rahm and Hatton Reel In Laporta to Share Abu Dhabi Lead as McIlroy Lurks One Back

Francesco Laporta's three-shot lead lasted exactly one round. By the end of Friday at Yas Links, the Italian had company at the top — and the company was formidable.

Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton, Ryder Cup team-mates and close friends, both reeled Laporta in during the second round of the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship, and the three men will head into the weekend tied on 12 under par. Behind them, one shot back, sits Rory McIlroy, who produced a round of 63 featuring 11 birdies — the most he has ever made in a single round on the DP World Tour.

Laporta had opened with a brilliant 62 on Thursday, a round that included an eagle, eight birdies and no bogeys, and for a while on Friday it looked as though he might keep the field at arm's length. Instead his second round turned into a roller coaster: a bogey at the third, a hat-trick of birdies from the seventh, a bogey-birdie start to the back nine, and then a double on the 14th that threatened to derail the whole day. He picked the shots back up on the 15th and the last, but his 70 left the door open, and Rahm and Hatton walked straight through it.

Hatton was the first to take advantage. The Englishman birdied his first two holes, then made four in a row from the sixth to turn in 30, and further gains on the 11th and 13th put him in front on his own before a bogey on the 16th pulled him back into the pack. His 65 was the round of the morning, and it continued a happy relationship with this event: Hatton won it in 2021 at Abu Dhabi Golf Club and has finished second and in the top ten in his other starts at Yas Links.

Rahm, playing in the final group of the day on his event debut, was soon in front with birdies on the second, third and fifth. What followed was pure theatre — four birdies and three bogeys across the next seven holes — before a two-putt gain on the last put him back on top. "Pretty good play," he said afterwards. "Only thing to take back would be just a couple of bad tee shots right now, feeling fairly comfortable otherwise. I'm really looking forward to the weekend. This part of the world has treated me very well, and I'm hoping I can do on the weekend what I've already done."

There is plenty at stake beyond the trophy. Rahm is chasing a record sixth Rolex Series victory, and McIlroy is hunting an eighth Race to Dubai title that would draw him level with Colin Montgomerie. The Northern Irishman found an unplayable lie and bogeyed the first on Friday, then birdied the second, fourth and seventh and made five in a row from the ninth on his way to that 63. He sits on 11 under alongside Adrian Meronk and the English pair Sam Bairstow and Matt Jordan, who both carded 67s.

Meanwhile the man McIlroy is chasing in the season-long race, Eugenio Chacarra, is back on three under, nine shots off the lead and in a tie for 38th. That is the kind of gap that can turn a two-man race into a procession if the weekend goes McIlroy's way.

Three men tied at the top, the biggest name in the sport one shot behind, and a record or two on the line. The weekend at Yas Links has everything it needs.