Laporta Leads Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship at Halfway Stage

Italy’s Francesco Laporta leads the way after two rounds of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship presented by EGA after posting the lowest score of the week.

Laporta carded a nine-under-par second round of 63, birdieing his last five holes at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship to make his surge up the leaderboard, and he now sits a shot clear of the field at -10 as he looks for his maiden European Tour title.

England’s Matthew Fitzpatrick and Spain’s Rafa Cabrera Bello are one back from the Italian, with the Englishman bogey-free through the opening 36 holes of the season’s first Rolex Series event.

One of the men that shared the lead on Thursday night, Renato Paratore, now sits two back after carding a level-par round of 72. He is alongside Chinese star Haotong Li and European Tour legend Sergio Garcia in a tie for 4th at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

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World No.6 Patrick Cantlay, former World No.1 Lee Westwood and former British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen are among those at -7, while Bernd Wiesberger and Thomas Pieters are a further shot back, four off the lead.

Sebastian Soderberg sits at -5, following a wonderful recovery to his week. The Swede started the day at +3 but carded a 64 to move up 92 places on the leaderboard and into a tie for 18th, alongside the likes of Thomas Detry and the leading amateur, Yuxin Lin of China.

Race to Dubai leader Branden Grace is at -4, six shots back from the lead, alongside Joakim Lagergren and Matthias Schwab, who both had low rounds to move inside the cut line.

South African Shaun Norris held a share of the lead after 18 holes, but a five-over-par round of 77 has seen him drop into a tie for 35th after day two, alongside the likes of countryman Erik van Rooyen and Italian Edoardo Molinari.

England’s Tommy Fleetwood and World No.1 Brooks Koepka are also at -3, with the American struggling to find fairways in his second round, but he was able to recover well, including this spectacular effort.

The cut line came at -1 after the first two days in the desert, with the likes of Grant Forrest, David Lipsky, Jordan Smith, Sam Horsfield, Matt Wallace, and Gavin Green all shooting under par to get inside the top 73 who made it through to the weekend’s action.

However, for reigning champion Shane Lowry, it was not to be, as the Irishman finished at level par, missing out on the cut by a single shot. Viktor Hovland, George Coetzee, and Chris Paisley were also among those to miss out narrowly in Abu Dhabi.

Other big names to fail to make the weekend include Charl Schwartzel, Ryan Fox, Danny Willett, Ian Poulter, Jamie Donaldson, Padraig Harrington and Pablo Larrazabal, the man that currently sits in 2nd on the Race to Dubai leaderboard.

American Bryson DeChambeau and Denmark’s rising star, Rasmus Højgaard, both finished their second rounds at +5, missing the cut by six shots, while 15-year-old amateur Joshua Hill’s first European Tour event ended as he came home at +6.

Leaderboard:

• 1 (-10): Francesco Laporta (ITA)
• T2 (-9): Matthew Fitzpatrick (ENG), Rafa Cabrera Bello (ESP)
• T4 (-8): Haotong Li (CHN), Sergio Garcia (ESP), Renato Paratore (ITA)

Selected Others:

• T7 (-7): Lee Westwood (ENG), Louis Oosthuizen (RSA), Patrick Cantlay (USA)
• T12 (-6): Bernd Wiesberger (AUT), Thomas Pieters (BEL), Zander Lombard (RSA)
• T18 (-5): Sebastian Soderberg (SWE), Thomas Detry (BEL), Yuxin Lin (A, CHN)
• T24 (-4): Branden Grace (RSA), Andy Sullivan (ENG), Jason Scrivener (AUS)

Missed Cut:

• T74 (E): Viktor Hovland (NOR), Shane Lowry (IRL)
• T88 (+1): Charl Schwartzel (RSA), Ryan Fox (NZL)
• T92 (+2): Danny Willett (ENG), Tom Lewis (ENG), Tapio Pulkkanen (FIN)
• T105 (+3): Eddie Pepperell (ENG), Ian Poulter (ENG), Jeunghun Wang (KOR)
• T111 (+4): Pablo Larrazabal (ESP), Padraig Harrington (IRL)
• T114 (+5): Bryson DeChambeau (USA), Rasmus Højgaard (DEN)