Rory McIlroy hopes Dubai title rival Tyrrell Hatton ‘gets out of bed on right side’

At the halfway stage in the $10 million season finale on the DP World Tour, the three-time winner on the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates shares top spot with Tyrrell Hatton and is once more the man to beat.

In the projected Race to Dubai Ranking, McIlroy has jumped above young Spaniard Chacarra and is on course to match Montgomerie’s record of eight titles. “If I go and I win the first trophy on Sunday, then the second trophy should take care of itself,” declared the world No 2, smiling.

The only real surprise is that McIlroy isn’t out in front on his own at this stage, having moved into the outright lead after covering the opening 11 holes in the second circuit to sit on seven under following his first-day 69 in the last of five Rolex Series events on the 2026 schedule.

All week long players have been talking about how golf balls are nestling down in the rough and McIlroy had two absolute shockers back-to-back at the 11th and 12th. At the former, he was only nine feet from the hole with his approach but in the first cut.

“You can't really chip it because you don't really know how it's going to come out. And then you can't putt it because it's lying down in the rough too much,” he said afterwards when asked about both lies - the latter led to his first dropped shot of the day - by The Scotsman.

From looking as though he could go on and open up a healthy lead over the chasing pack, he suddenly faltered a bit, dropping shots at the 16th and 17th as well before finishing with a birdie to join Hatton on five under after the Englishman had signed for a second-round 69.

“I've always associated this place with 65s and 66s - and this week, that’s not the case,” declared McIlroy, with Joost Luiten’s 67 being the best score on the first day and a 68 from Jayden Schaper being the pick of the day-two efforts. “Yeah, it's tricky.”

Unusually, the venue for this showpiece event isn’t in tip-top condition, something which is being exacerbated by the fact that Yas Links was in pristine shape for last week’s Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship, the first of two big-money Play-Offs in the UAE.

“The course isn't in the best shape - it's definitely been better in previous years,” observed McIlroy, who knows this place like the back of his hand. “And that's obviously providing a bit of a challenge, especially around the greens and it’s easy to make bogeys.”

Add in some wind over the first two days and McIlroy reckons it’s the “toughest test” he’s faced here in 17 years, with Hatton echoing that view based on his 12 previous appearances. “Yeah, I think so,” said the Englishman. “Normally scoring is fairly good round here. Anywhere between 16 and 20 under is normally the mark. I mean, if scoring stays the same as it is, then what, 12 under, 13 under will win. It kind of shows how different it is playing this year.”

Even if he comes out on top on Sunday night, Hatton won’t secure one of the ten PGA Tour cards up for grabs due to being ineligible for the US circuit for a full year from his last appearance on the the now collapsed LIV Golf League.

“I mean, as it stands, yeah, I'm banned until next August,” he replied to being asked by The Scotsman if he was okay about that position. “So I'll try and play as well as I can this weekend. I'll be starting my year in the Middle East next year and there's a good schedule for me to play on the DP World Tour. So that's my focus.”

After a second-round 73, overnight leader Luiten sits one off the lead alongside Norwegian Kristoffer Reitan, with Edinburgh-based Frenchman Victor Perez in a group one further back after finishing his second circuit with an eagle while Rahm, the winner in Abu Dhabi last weekend, sits just three off the lead.

Chacarra, who is bidding to become just the third Spaniard after Rahm and Seve Ballesteros to win the Race to Dubai, sits just outside the top ten on one under and can still finish above McIlroy on the season-long points list with a final flourish.

However, American Patrick Reed, who came into the week sitting third in the points list, is now almost certainly out of contention after reaching the halfway stage sitting 49th in the 50-man field following a second-round 78 that included a messy finish.

After being two under for the day through 13 holes and having the leaders in his sights, Calum Hill dropped three shots over the closing stretch to sit on par, with Grant Forrest and Ewen Ferguson on three over and four over respectively heading into the weekend.

“I played nice today. I played better than yesterday,” reported Hill, who is on course to finish the season as the top Scot on the circuit. “Just hit a couple of bad shots to finish, which is a shame.” One came at the par-3 17th, where he found the water and took a double bogey. “I felt a bit stuck at the top of my backswing and blocked it and it was never on land,” he said of that.

Between then, McIlroy and Hatton have won a combined nine Rolex Series titles and the Northern Irishman is looking forward to the pair going head-to-head on Saturday - with one provision. “As long as he gets out of the right side of bed, then we're good,” said the back-to-back Masters champion, smiling.

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