Nicolai Højgaard is eyeing a second DP World Tour Championship title after opening up a three-shot lead at the halfway stage at Jumeirah Golf Estates.
The Dane is making his third appearance at the season-ending event on the Earth Course, where he came fourth on his debut in 2021 before lifting the trophy two years later.
Related: Michael Kim open up narrow lead at Earth Course
Højgaard began the day three shots behind leader Michael Kim, but an eagle and five birdies saw him catapult to the top of the leaderboard thanks to a flawless 65 – the lowest round of the week so far – to reach 12 under par.
View this post on Instagram
There is a stellar chasing pack in hot pursuit, with his 2023 European Ryder Cup team-mates Justin Rose, Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy sat alongside Daniel Hillier and fellow Dane Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen at nine under.
View this post on Instagram
Neergaard-Petersen, who almost aced the 13th before eagling the next, went four under through three holes with a birdie at the 15th to jump ahead on his own in second at ten under, before bogeying the last to slip back into the pack at nine under par, matching playing partner Rose’s round of 67.
View this post on Instagram
Lowry also signed for a 67, with defending champion McIlroy – chasing down his seventh Race to Dubai title – coming home with a four-under 68, while New Zealand’s Hillier signed for a 69.
English pair Laurie Canter and Tommy Fleetwood, Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre and Swede Alex Noren are one shot further back at eight under.
Player quotes
Nicolai Højgaard: It’s great to be back. It’s one of my favourite tournaments and favourite courses to play. It’s good to be back this year in a little bit of form. Just happy to be here.
Yesterday was a really good round. I felt like I actually might have played a little bit better today. But yeah, just staying patient. I know there’s plenty of chances out there. It’s easy to make a silly bogey out of being a little bit too aggressive. So trying to navigate my way out there a little bit. Staying patient has probably been the highlight so far.
View this post on Instagram
I think it suits my eye. I really like it off the tee. I feel like it’s a position golf course as well. It’s a mix of driver down to 4-iron. And it plays into my strength, which is mid-irons. So it’s just a really good fit for me, and yeah, I played some good golf again. So hopefully we keep it up.
Rory McIlroy: I had to battle a little more today than I did yesterday. The conditions were slightly tougher, as well. So you know, if you looked at the scoring yesterday compared to today, it is a little bit tougher.
I missed a couple more fairways today. And when I did miss the fairways, I got some really bad lies, like the worst lies I’ve seen this week. I didn’t even get it back on to the fairway at the last and had to scramble there.
But I felt like I showed my scoring skills today, and you know, battled well and stayed patient, and got the ball up-and-down when I needed to. And overall, you know, to shoot 69, I’m pretty pleased considering some of the spots that I found myself.
