Italians Molinari, Migliozzi lead Abu Dhabi Golf Championship

Ireland's Shane Lowry, the highest-ranked player in the field, sits three shots back on seven-under after a round of 70

Italy's Francesco Molinari. — AP file

By AFP

Published: Fri 20 Jan 2023, 9:08 PM

Francesco Molinari continued his good form to take a share of the lead with fellow Italian Guido Migliozzi after the second round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship on Friday.

Former British Open champion Molinari made six birdies on his second nine in a second straight five-under-par 67.

Migliozzi, who like Molinari won 3.5 points during Continental Europe's Hero Cup success last week, birdied his final three holes to also sit on 10-under.

Molinari has struggled for form since a golden 2018, when he lifted the Claret Jug and won all five of his matches at the Ryder Cup.

But ahead of this year's matches between Europe and the United States in Rome, Molinari is getting back to his best.

"I think where you are, where I'm at at the moment, when you go through a tough patch, it's nice to see that I can pick it up again," said the 40-year-old, now ranked 166th in the world.

Ireland's Shane Lowry, the highest-ranked player in the field, sits three shots back on seven-under after a round of 70.

LIV Golf players Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and Henrik Stenson all narrowly made the cut after disappointing second rounds.

SCORES

Leading second-round scores from the European Tour's Abu Dhabi Championship on Friday (GBR & IRL unless stated/par 72):

134 - Francesco Molinari (ITA) 67-67, Guido Migliozzi (ITA) 65-69

135 - Jason Scrivener (AUS) 65-70

136 - George Coetzee (RSA) 68-68, Alexander Bjork (SWE) 71-65, Alexander Levy (FRA) 68-68, Victor Perez (FRA) 71-65, Scott Jamieson 67-69

137 - Ryan Fox (NZL) 71-66, Adrian Meronk (POL) 70-67, Masahiro Kawamura (JPN) 67-70, Shane Lowry 67-70, Shubhankar Sharma (IND) 67-70, Antoine Rozner (FRA) 69-68, Min Woo Lee (AUS) 68-69