McIlroy shoots nine-under 63 with 11 birdies to take Abu Dhabi clubhouse lead

Rory McIlroy posted a nine-under-par second-round 63, including 11 birdies, to move to 11 under and assume the clubhouse lead at the Abu Dhabi Championship on Friday. Several of the leading players on the leaderboard were still to complete their second 18 holes.

McIlroy had a two-shot penalty overturned in how it affected nothing in this rewrite; he had been handed a two-shot sanction on Thursday for improving his lie during the opening round and finished day one on two under, eight shots behind leader Francesco Laporta. The six-time major winner was penalised after pressing down on the grass behind his ball with his club before hitting a chip on the par-four 12th at Yas Links.

He began the second round with a bogey at the first but recovered with birdies at the second, fourth and seventh holes. McIlroy then recorded five consecutive birdies from holes nine to 13, dropped a shot at the 14th and closed with birdies at the 17th and 18th to complete the nine-under 63. It is the first time in his career that he has made 11 birdies in a single round of a DP World Tour event.

McIlroy went into the Abu Dhabi tournament in third position in the Race to Dubai standings, behind leader Eugenio Chacarra and second-placed Patrick Reed. Reed had been the long-time Race to Dubai leader after his Rolex Series victory in Dubai and win in Qatar but was recently overtaken as Chacarra claimed a third triumph of the season at the DP World India Championship.

Chacarra shot a second-round 71 on Friday to sit on three under, while Reed also registered a 71 to lie one over. The top 70 available players from the Race to Dubai rankings are competing in Abu Dhabi.

The 37-year-old is chasing a fifth Race to Dubai title in a row and a record-equalling eighth in total, which would draw him level with Scotland's Colin Montgomerie, and the top 50 will progress to next week's season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.