Guido Migliozzi and Francesco Molinari head into the weekend at the top of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship leaderboard.
The Italian duo came into this event fresh from their outstanding displays at last week’s inaugural Hero Cup, where they both delivered 3.5 points and finished unbeaten as Continental Europe defeated Great Britain & Ireland 14.5-10.5 over three days of competition.
And they were on top form again on day two at Yas Links Abu Dhabi, finishing strongly to reach 10 under par at the halfway stage of the first Rolex Series event of the season.
After Molinari had shot a second successive 67 in the morning courtesy of six birdies on his back nine, Migliozzi closed his second-round 69 with a hat-trick of birdies to join him at the summit.
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Having started at the 10th tee, Molinari saw two early birdies wiped out as a double bogey-bogey run at the 16th and 17th threatened to stall his progress.
But he recovered with five birdies in seven holes from the first before sending his wedge shot at the 9th to within two feet to set up a guaranteed closing birdie.
Migliozzi, meanwhile, mixed one birdie with one bogey on the front nine before kick-starting his round at the 16th with a strong shot-of-the-day contender.
He pitched his approach towards the front of the green and let it run all the way to the pin at the back to give himself a tap-in birdie.
The 25-year-old then took advantage of the par-three 17th before birdieing the last from 17 feet to grab a share of the lead.
As the wind strengthened in the afternoon, no one was able to catch the Italian pair at the top, with Jason Scrivener their nearest challenger on nine under after mixing four birdies with two bogeys in his 70.
Alexander Levy, making his return to action after 11 months out due to a back injury, is among those on eight under, with fellow Frenchman Victor Perez, Swede Alexander Björk, South African George Coetzee and Scotland’s Scott Jamieson.
Play was suspended due to fading light in the evening, with only a handful of players still out on course.
– Report from DP World Tour website
