When the time came, Nicolai Hojgaard – the 22-year-old Danish player who made his Ryder Cup debut on Europe’s winning team in Rome in September – reaffirmed why he is considered one of the hottest young players in the sport.
On the 18th hole of his second round in the DP World Tour Championship, Hojgaard, seemingly with ice running through his veins, was faced with a 219 yards approach to the green at The Earth course in Dubai which has water in play down the left: he hit a magnificent five-iron approach to six feet, using the back drop to his advantage, and rolled in the eagle putt for a homeward run of 30 strokes in a wonderfully crafted 66 for a midway total of 11-under-par 133.
Hojgaard’s brilliance gave him a two strokes 36-holes lead over a quintet of players that featured world number four Viktor Hovland, Tommy Fleetwood, Jens Dantorp, Antoine Rozner and Thriston Lawrence as he seeks a first win of a season in which he already has eight top-10s, including a runner-up finish in last week’s Nedbank Challenge.
“It’s a little bit like last week [in Sun City] as well. I had a slow start in every round, basically. And then I just know on every round there’s going to be a run of birdies at some point with where my game is at. So, it’s about staying patient. I trust my game at the moment.
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“I feel like [a win] is the only thing I missed this season. But there’s two rounds to go. There’s a lot of really good players in this field I know that are going to be in the hunt the next few days. I’m going to keep grinding as much as I can and putt myself around, hopefully, and we’ll see on Sunday,” said Hojgaard.
For a time, it looked as if Shane Lowry would also be part of those gathered near the top of the leaderboard.
Lowry’s hole-out from a greenside bunker on the seventh for an eagle was sandwiched in with birdies on the sixth and eighth as he made a significant move, turning in 33 and adding further birdies on the 11th, 14th and 16th before coming undone on the 18th.
Where Hojgaard made eagle on 18 to claim the outright lead, Lowry’s play of the risk-reward closing Par 5 was quite different. His tee shot found the creek that divides the fairway and he had to take a penalty drop and then hit his approach into a greenside bunker. Ultimately, he could finish with a bogey for a round of 67 that left the Offalyman on five-under-par 139, in tied-17th place, where he was joined by Tom McKibbin.
McKibbin, making his debut in the DP World Tour’s season finale, added a 68 to his opening 71 for 139 and will need to make a significant weekend move if he is to force his way into the 10 players who will earn PGA Tour cards stateside at the tournament’s conclusion.
Rory McIlroy, already assured of the Harry Vardon Trophy for winning the order of merit, struggled to make any impact in a second round – with placing on fairways due to heavy overnight rain – as he signed for a 72 (three birdies, three bogeys) for 143 in tied-34th place in the 50-man field.
In the CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Florida, on the LPGA Tour, Leona Maguire was stuck in neutral for the vast majority of her round with a sequence of 16 straight pars before she claimed her first birdie at the 17th, in eventually signing for a second round 71 to add to her opening 68 for a midway total of five-under-par 139, which left her eight strokes off the pace set by Amy Yang.
Yang – the South Korean seeking her first win of the season on the LPGA in the big-money finale – moved to the top of the leaderboard with a stunning 63 for 13-under-par 131, which included a homeward run of 30 strokes featuring six birdies.
