McIlroy and Hatton share halfway lead at DP World Tour Championship as Chacarra stays four shots adrift

Rory McIlroy and Tyrrell Hatton were tied for the lead at the halfway point of the DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai after the second round, while Race to Dubai leader Eugenio Chacarra remained in contention four shots off the pace.

Second-round scoring left McIlroy and Hatton on 5 under; Kristoffer Reitan and Joost Luiten sat one behind on 4 under. The leaderboard also showed Marcus Lindberg, Fabian Schott and Victor Perez at 3 under, with Jayden Schaper, Jon Rahm and David Puig on 2 under. Selected others included E Chacarra, E A Scott and C Hill at 1 under; Tommy Fleetwood at +3; A Rai at +6; and P Reed at +8.

McIlroy, a six-time major winner, opened with a three-under 69 and followed it with a 70 to share the lead as he chases a record-equalling eighth Race to Dubai title; victory this week would guarantee he equals Colin Montgomerie's haul of eight season-long crowns. Hunting a fourth DP World Tour Championship win and a fifth successive Race to Dubai triumph, McIlroy produced four birdies in his opening 10 holes but dropped shots with a bogey five at the 12th and further mistakes at the 16th and 17th.

The world number two recovered with a closing birdie for the second day in succession to lock his place in Saturday's final pairing alongside Ryder Cup team-mate Hatton at 08:40 GMT. "I think it's been a bit eye-opening to see the scoring the first two days," said McIlroy. "I don't think the wind is supposed to be as up over the weekend, so the scoring might be a little bit better. "As I said, the scoring this week, because of this course set-up, just isn't as good as in previous years. I've been coming back to the golf course for 15 plus years, and you just associate this course with pretty low scoring. "And then when it's not, you just have to reframe what is a good score. Anything in the 60s, it seems, this week is a good score."

Hatton carded a 69, producing three birdies in a bogey-free front nine before slipping at the 10th, knocking an approach to two feet for birdie at 15, finding the greenside bunker at the par-three 17th and then closing with a birdie. "It's been tricky. I thought the back nine played really difficult yesterday," said Hatton. "The wind was sort of moving round just enough that it goes from slightly off the right to then more down and club selection just becomes really difficult. "Today it felt a little bit easier, but then just towards the end there, the wind sort of got stronger than where it was yesterday, so then that makes it more challenging. "But overall, it's been a solid start to the tournament."

Chacarra, who entered the week as Race to Dubai leader after three wins earlier this season, chipped in at the last for birdie to finish one under and sit four shots behind the leaders. South Africa's Jayden Schaper shot 68 and Rahm carded a 71 to lie on two under; the pair are noted in the report as still able to clinch the Race to Dubai. Patrick Reed's hopes suffered after he followed an opening 75 with a 77.

The DP World Tour Championship moves into its third round on Saturday with McIlroy and Hatton paired together for the 08:40 GMT tee time, and live text updates of the final round will be available on the BBC Sport website and app on Sunday.