The Adrian Meronk Diary: 'I had a nice second round but the breeze provided a stiffer test'

Well, that was a treat for me in round two of the Dubai Invitational at Dubai Creek Resort.

I shot five birdies against one bogey for a 67 today, again in ideal conditions. But the freshening breeze provided a stiffer test.

The 67 moved me up to tied 10th and I am five under par after 36 holes.

I had birdies on 3 and 4 after teeing off the 1st hole, but then dropped a shot on 7 and the rest were pars to be out in 34, one under the card.

My back nine was strong with birdies on 10, 13 and 17, and no dropped shots. On the last hole into the wind, I hit my drive 270 meters, oops sorry, 300 yards and hit an easy nine iron to the middle of the green to make a solid par.

I am getting to know the golf course a lot better after round one, where I left a few out there.

No practice after play today, just a restful evening to be fully energised and ready for round three.

My amateur partner today was Larry Fitzerald Jnr., one of the greatest American wide receivers in NFL history. He is an excellent athlete and a very good golfer. I am aware of who he is, although the NFL is not a sport we follow much in Poland. I also did some homework and I met him at the Tournament Party earlier in the week.

Once again I played with Spaniard Pablo Larrazabal who is always fun to be around and his amateur partner was Tournament Host Abdulla Al Naboodah. We all had to be on our best behaviour in this company.

I first met Abdulla recently at the Dunhill Links Championship. It is better weather here in Dubai than in a wet Scotland. Abdulla leads the Pro-Am element of the tournament, great stuff mindful he is in full host mode all week for the amateurs, pros and the DP World Tour.

Saturday sees the final round of the Pro-Am with the leading amateur partnering with the leading Pro and so on, down the list. That should be a fun day for us all.

Abdulla will play with Rory McIlroy in the final Pro-Am round, which is a repeat of yesterday’s first-round pairing.

On Sunday it is pros only to complete the 72-hole event.

It is moving day tomorrow for me as I need to really have another good round if I am going to be in contention come Sunday night. I was eight back of the leader last night now I am only five back, but it is still Rory who dominates.

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My tee time tomorrow is at 9.33 am with amateur Ahmed Kandil. Ahmed is only four back of second place, so fingers crossed we can make a team move.

Good luck to all the amateurs for their final round – it should be fun to see how they cope with all the attention – plus live TV!

Speak to you all after tomorrow’s third round.

Adrian is a 30-year-old golfer from Poland, a Dubai resident and a four-time winner on the DP World Tour.

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