Scot Craig Lee kept his hopes of a maiden European Tour victory on track as he moved into a share of the lead with Spain’s Rafa Cabrera-Bello on nine- under-par 135 at the half- way stage of the Abu Dhabi HSBC championship.
The 36-year-old from Stirling posted a 67 to Cabrera-Bello’s 68 on the immaculate National Course, both men one shot clear of England’s Danny Willett who provided the pick of the second day’s cards with a stunning 63 for 136.
Lee, who lost out to Thomas Bjorn in a play-off for the Omega European Masters last September, said: “I think Santa has brought me a good putting stroke for Christmas.
“My brother installed an Astroturf putting green in my front garden at the end of last year and that’s made a difference as I’ve been able to keep putting every day. It’s 20ft by 14ft and the neighbours have been peering over the fence.”
Bjorn was just two shots behind Lee on seven under after shooting a 67 and Lee added: “I would like to take the two of us side-by-side in a play-off again.
“Obviously there are a lot of leaderboards out there and I’m not one of those golfers who shies away from looking at them – I like to know what’s going on and who’s around me. Coming in from the winter, you never know just how rusty you are going to feel or how your game is going to be. I hit a few loose shots but I holed a few good putts.”
Fellow Scots Colin Montgomerie, Marc Warren (both on three under), Stephen Gallacher (one under) and Peter Whiteford (level) all made the halfway cut but it was disappointment for other Scots.
Aberdeen’s Paul Lawrie and Peterhead’s Jamie McLeary finished on nine over as they bowed out, along with Greenock’s Chris Doak (three over).
Meanwhile, Rory Mc- Ilroy had Open champion Phil Mickelson reaching for the superlatives after storming into contention.
Mickelson had a front-row seat as McIlroy covered the back nine in 31 for a round of 67 which left him seven under par and two behind Lee and Cabrera-Bello. Mickelson, who returned a 70 to lie one under, said: “The back nine was really impressive, a beautiful nine holes of golf.”
All a far cry from the same event 12 months ago when McIlroy’s controversial multi-million pound switch to Nike was greeted with fireworks and fizzled out with a missed cut after consecutive rounds of 75.
McIlroy, who endured a turbulent 2013 before finally claiming his first win of the season in the Australian Open in December, said: “I feel like I have a great chance of winning.”