France’s Mike Lorenzo-Vera continued his good form to card a 69 and take a three shot lead at the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai on Friday, while England’s Tommy Fleetwood edged closer to being named Europe’s No. 1.
Lorenzo-Vera entered the day with a one shot lead and got off to a flying start, making birdie on the opening two holes. The Frenchman finished 12 under for the tournament, despite carding three second-round bogeys.
Fleetwood shrugged off two early bogeys at the third and fourth holes to end the day tied second at 9 under alongside Spain’s Jon Rahm. The Englishman moved to a share of second place behind Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger in the Race to Dubai rankings with 36 holes remaining of the season.
“It’s just a classic case of trying to stay in the moment and take each shot as it comes,” said Fleetwood.
“There’s a lot going on over the weekend, there’s a lot of different scenarios and players in the mix.
“There’s a lot of things going on around you so the more internally focused you can be and the more you can just stay in your bubble, it will just be a great challenge going into the weekend trying to do that.”
Rahm made an eagle at the par-5 18th to move to 9 under, staying firmly in contention to win the Race to Dubai competition.
England’s Tom Lewis occupies fourth place at 7 under, while world No. 2 Rory McIlroy slumped to a second-round 74 after making a double-bogey at the sixth hole, as well as two bogeys early on the back nine.