Ferguson Soaring High Finishing Birdie, Eagle At Hero Dubai Desert Classic

Scotland’s Ewen Ferguson was soaring high and into a one-shot lead thanks to a birdie, eagle finish on day two of the Hero Dubai Desert Classic.

Ferguson added a seven-under 65 to his opening round score of 67 to move to 12-under and clear of his rivals in the $US 9m Rolex Series event on the host Emirates Golf Club course where he is club’s official ambassador.

The reigning BMW International Open champion has not dropped over the two rounds as he also seeks to capture a fourth DP World Tour title and in the first event of his 116th Tour event, at the commencement of his fourth full season on the DP World Tour.

Ferguson holed a stunning 30-footer for a birdie ‘3’ at the 17th and then at the last, the dog-leg par-5 18th, and with water guarding the green, his second shot hit the backboard behind the green and bounced back onto the green landing just five feet from hole from where he holed the putt for an eagle ‘3’.

“To finish birdie, eagle was very special and I knew I could take advantage of them, so I took my chances and they paid off whereas other days they don’t”, said the Scot.

“The eagle on 18 was interesting as I have a 3-wood and a 7-wood in my bag, so I used the 7-wood that goes so high into the wind, so with it being later in the day and it was cooling down a bit temperature-wise, I thought if I aimed for the ball to fly the green then I could walk off with a birdie, so to see hit the signage board and then to see it bounce back and onto the green and it did, was pretty special.

“It’s a great feeling to be leading as it’s my first event of ’25, so a great feeling to be leading, so it feels good and I can’t complain too much. I have worked hard over the off-season and I am trying to stay as healthy as possible, and also stay as happy as possible.

“There are way more things to life but the then the way I am feeling now, well I have not had this mindset out on a golf course for three to four years, so feel now I want to enjoy it,  and realise just how good I can be when my golf is good and I am also feeling good.

“I now have two rounds remaining, so I will be going out trying my best to win, and as I have done on the Tour three times before and while you sometimes need a little bit of luck to win, ultimately my goal would be to stay in the mix going into Sunday’s final round.

“If I do that then that would be incredible.  That’s all I can do and if not, I will come back next year and try to do the same”.

Kiwi Daniel Hillier posted a similar score of 65 to be second place at 11-under while double defending champion Rory McIlroy signed for a one-under 71 for a three-under par tally for a share of 33rd place.

And while it was another average effort from the World No. 3, all credit to McIlroy as he must have spent easily 30-minutes post his round signing each and every autograph for those lined-up at the back of the ninth and 18th holes corporate enclosures.



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