Thriston Lawrence battled for consistency on Friday in the second round of the DP World Tour Championship on the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai as he carded a one-under-par 71.
While scoring was never easy, Lawrence made four birdies and three bogeys while a player like Antoine Rozner of France went bogey-free for his seven-under-par 65 to take the lead at nine-under-par. That was nine clear of Lawrence, and one clear of Rory McIlroy and Tyrrell Hatton, who shared the first-round lead and carded matching three-under 69s in the second round.
Lawrence’s bogeys included a frustrating six on the 18th, which, admittedly, gave even Hatton cause to mutter about the design of the hole not being his favourite in world golf as he was forced to lay up with a nine-iron after a perfect drive.
For the South African, it was a better day than the first off the tee and in to the green, but his proximity to the hole of his approaches left him with some long putts, and the 31 putts he took in the third round had him ranked in the bottom half of the 50-man field.
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. He shared the lead with Paul Waring and Rozner at eight-under until dropping another shot at the 10th, which handed a two-shot lead to the Frenchman.
He parred his way to the par-five last, where he produced one of the strokes of the day. After finding the fairway with his tee shot, he landed his five-wood on the green to give himself a 15-foot eagle chance to rejoin Rozner at the summit. The Northern Irishman’s effort brushed the left edge but he tapped in for birdie to sit one off the Frenchman.
McIlroy said: “A little disappointed that I didn’t kick on after such a great start, four-under through seven. I just started to miss a few fairways around the turn and not by much either but the rough is so thick, and you lose all control of your golf ball if you hit it in there. It was nice to finish with a birdie and at least shoot something in the 60s after the start that I had. I’m so comfortable around this place and I’ve had success before. So I’m liking my chances going into the weekend.”
