Marc Warren celebrated the first event of a 15th season soaring high with a tournament career equal low 66 second round at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
Warren brilliantly drained a 12-footer for an eagle ‘3’ at the last to be sharing sixth place on six-under par in the £5.86m event in the UAE capital.
England’s Tyrrell Hatton opened-up an impressive five-shot lead, moving to 12-under par and still with five second round holes to play when play resumes early Saturday (UAE time).
The three-hour opening day delay due to fog meant that half the 130-player field could not finish their second round and also among those was World No. 6 Rory McIlroy.
Marc Warren celebrates the first event of his 15th season with an equal Abu Dhabi HSBC round low of 66 on day two of the event.
McIlroy was officially credited with the first-round lead of an eight-under par 64 and after a long second day wait he ventually found his way onto the National course to quickly race to 10-under with birdies at his first and third holes but it all turned pear-shape for the four-time major winner in dropping a shot at four for bogey and then after a poor drive at five, walking off with double-bogey.
McIlroy birdied the short eighth for a second day running but slipped further adrift of Hatton with bogeys on 10 and 13 to be two-over for the round ahead of dropping into a four-way share of second place at seven-under par after 14-holes when the siren sounded at 6pm local time to halt play due to darkness.
No trouble focussing for Warren and with his 66 matching his lowest event score and that on day one of the 2017 event and all-up in 36 rounds of the Abu Dhabi course.
Warren made his full Tour season debut in the inaugural 2006 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship but the course has been none too kind to the 39-year-old Glaswegian. In fact, this year is just the fifth time in 14 appearances the reigning Austrian Open champ will be guaranteed in making the Abu Dhabi cut, and also in returning to the event for a first occasion in three years.
He said: “It’s been good to return to Abu Dhabi and I’m just enjoying playing well especially since winning in Austria.
“I feel my form has been pretty consistent. I struggled a little bit with injury after that and was only three-quarters fit for the UK Swing.
“After that, I started to play a bit better again and finished the year pretty solid with a nice top-10 in the new Dubai event and a solid performance a week later in the DP World Tour Championship.
“So, it’s just nice now I have started the year with a couple of nice rounds here.
“I’m just enjoying some good golf. It was a long couple of years and hopefully I have put that behind me and I am looking forwards and upwards now.”
The longtime Callaway attached Warren had played just seven holes on Thursday so it meant 21 holes on day two and with his second round capped by the last hole eagle.
He said: “I hit two really good shots on 18 with the second to 12 feet and rolled the putt in, which was a nice way to finish.”
Scott Jamieson (71 & 70) is assured of making the cut at three-under so too Grant Forrest (72 & 70) on two-under and Calum Hill (72 & 71) a shot further back.
Among the four Scots still to finish their rounds are Stephen Gallacher on four-under after 11-holes and Robert MacIntyre at two-under through 12-holes.
