Kaymer Maintains Lead in Abu Dhabi


Martin Kaymer followed up his pacesetting 8-under 64 with a 67 Friday to keep his one-stroke lead in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship. The fourth event in the European Tour's young season is being held at Abu Dhabi Golf Club in the United Arab Emirates.

Kaymer, a three-time winner of the tournament, posted 10 birdies and a two bogeys Thursday. On Friday the steady 30-year-old German tacked on five more birdies to reach 13-under 131, a stroke ahead of Belgium's Thomas Pieters.

The 22-year-old Pieters began the day trailing the reigning U.S. Open champion by one and held pace thanks to six birdies and a bogey to also post a 67.

For the second straight day Kaymer attributed his fine play to his accuracy. "I didn't miss many fairways, which gives you the opportunity to go for a lot of flags," the Dusseldorf native told the European Tour's website. "And to be honest I really believe the golf course plays two or three shots tougher in the morning than in the afternoon because once you miss the fairway, you're in that thick, wet grass and then it's almost impossible to get home in two on the par-4s.

"So I was very happy to shoot 5-under today," added the two-time major champion. "I will give it my best to get to the 20s (under par). I'll say it that way. Right now, I'm 13-under par, which is a great score after two rounds."

Pieters was also pleased with his consistency. "It was a solid day. I started off well but just struggled coming in a little bit. I rolled it well with my putter, so that was nice."

Lurking just two shots behind Kaymer is Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy, who fired a 6-under 66 after starting with a 67. The No. 1-ranked in the world - playing in his first event of 2015 - had five birdies, a bogey and a hole-in-one on the par-3 15th for a 66 to stay close.

It was the third ace in only two days; England's Tom Lewis had one on the par-3 seventh and Spaniard Miguel Angel Jiménez holed out on the 15th in the first round.

"It definitely made up for the two previous holes," said McIlroy, who came into the 15th off three straight pars. "It was a perfect number. It was straight downwind, 177 yards, and I had a 9-iron. The 12th hole [another par-3] was playing sort of similar and I hit 9-iron there and pitched 194 so I knew it was a pretty good number," McIlroy added of his first hole-in-one as a touring pro.

"As soon as it left, it looked like it had a chance. It took a nice little hop to the right. It's my first one ever in competition as a pro, so obviously the beers are on me tonight. It was unexpected. I had been playing well but I had not been putting so well. So that took the putter out of it thankfully and I didn't need to get the putter out on that hole."

Tied for fourth at 135 are England's James Morris (67) and American Peter Uihlein (68).

Five back are France's Alexander Levy (70) and Australia's Richard Green (68), while trailing by six are England's Tyrrell Hatton (71), Denmark's Morten Orum Hadsen (69), Austria's Bernd Wiesberger (65) and Frenchman Gary Stal (69).

Wiesberger's seven-birdie outing was the low round of the day.

The 36-hole cut was set at 2-under 142. Among those who didn't qualify for the weekend was defending champion Pablo Larrazabal. The Spaniard opened with a 71 but shot an even-par 72 to miss out by one. Also under the cut line was No. 2-ranked Henrik Stenson. Though he carded a 68, the Swede couldn't overcome an opening 76.

Playing alongside McIlroy for the second day in a row, American Rickie Fowler - who started with a promising 67 - couldn't keep pace with his friend, recording a 75 but making the cut with a 142, the same number as No. 6 Justin Rose, who's shot 73 and 69, and last week's winner at the South African Open, Andy Sullivan (two 71s).

The 51-year-old Jiménez followed a 72 with a 67 and is eight behind Kaymer along with a host of other players.

For all the scores, visit http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2015/tournamentid=2015002/leaderboard/index.html.