Golf: Kaymer takes sole ownership

Martin Kaymer of Germany in action during the second round of te Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship held at Abu Dhabi Golf Club, January 20,2017. Photo By Ryan Lim

There's a popular saying that whenever an athlete does exceeding well at one particular venue, they could well roll it up and take it home.
And that perhaps holds true for Martin Kaymer who could probably take the fine piece of real estate at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club.
The German followed up his first round 66 with an identical score to take sole ownership of the leaderboard after the second round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship. Kaymer, the only three-time winner of the Championship, turned in another six-under at the National Course for an overall 12-under 132, on Friday.
But the 32-year-old holds just a slender lead with a chasing pack waiting to hunt him down on Saturday, the penultimate day of the Championship. Kaymer has a one-stroke advantage over Spaniard Rafa Cabrera Bello, who had held the clubhouse lead after stepping out earlier in the morning with Lee Westwood and Belgian prodigy Thomas Pieters, from the 10th tee box.
Bello, the 2012 Omega Dubai Desert Classic winner, too carded a six-under on the day for an overall 11-under to jump four spots up to sole second. Thailand's Kiradech Aphibarnrat dropped one spot to tied third along with Paul Dunneand Tommy Fleetwood. Dunne made up seven positions to be tied second with 10-under after carding a six-under.
After a sparkling first round, reigning Race to Dubai champion Henrik Stenson could only muster one-under on the day for an overall nine-under to be tied sixth along with Tyrell Hatton, Jeunghun Wang and Pablo Larrazabal.
Australia's Sam Brazel and England's Chris Paisley were the biggest gainers on the day, carding seven-under for an overall eight-under. That saw the duo vault 42 spots up to tied 10th.
Defending champion Rickie Fowler and his compatriot and Middle Eastern debutant Dustin Johnson came up with four-under to make up 37 positions to tied 38th. Meanwhile Kaymer, who has two further top three finishes in his 10 visits, started five minutes before noon, and was one over after a bogey on the par-4 sixth. But he erased that with a fine eagle on the par-5 eighth, completing it in three shots.
The German began his return journey with birdies on the 10th and 11th but then went on to bogey the par-3 12th.
But that was again going to be a minor blip as he knocked two birdies on the trot - the par-4s 13th and 14th, and then rolled in birdies on the 16th and the 18th.
If Kaymer does go on to win on Sunday, he could join Tiger Woods, Tom Watson, Bernhard Langer, Charl Schwartzel, Seve Ballesteros, Mark McNulty, Miguel Angel Jiménez and Sir Nick Faldo as a player to win the same European Tour event four times.
james@khaleejtimes.com