Rory McIlroy bounced back from a controversial two-shot penalty in the opening round by firing an exceptional 9-under 63 featuring 11 birdies at the Abu Dhabi Championship on Friday.
The Masters champion moved to 11-under overall after two rounds of play at Yas Links, putting himself right back into contention heading into the weekend.
Tyrrell Hatton, Jon Rahm and overnight leader Francesco Laporta shared a three-way tie at the top of the leaderboard on 12-under-par after the second round of the DP World Tour postseason event.
McIlroy found himself eight shots off the pace after Thursday's opening round following a retroactive two-stroke penalty for improving his lie on the 12th hole, which turned a double-bogey into a quadruple-bogey 8 and left him with a 70.
Reflecting on scoring conditions at the venue, McIlroy noted that the course played very gettable with minimal wind and numerous scoring opportunities available during the second day of action.
Addressing the previous day's penalty decision where tournament officials ruled he had pressed down grass behind his ball with his wedge, McIlroy maintained he had quickly made peace with the ruling before leaving the course.
The Northern Irishman stated that he would rather accept a two-stroke penalty than face accusations of cheating, adding that he maintained a completely clear conscience heading into Friday's round.
His sparkling second round encountered an early stutter with a bogey on the opening hole, but he quickly recovered by collecting three birdies across the next six holes.
McIlroy then put together a blistering run of five consecutive birdies starting from the ninth hole to rapidly climb up the tournament standings at Yas Links.
Although he dropped another shot with a bogey on the 14th hole, he finished strongly by picking up three further birdies on the final four holes of his round.
The 37-year-old attributed his impressive turnaround to strong driving, precise iron play and a notable improvement on the greens after struggling with his putting over the preceding couple of months.
He revealed that he had spent time working on his putting mechanics last week alongside instructor Brad Faxon in an effort to address his recent struggles with the flat stick.
Matthew Jordan, Adrian Meronk and Sam Bairstow finished alongside McIlroy in a tie for fourth position on the leaderboard, sitting just one stroke behind the leading trio at 11-under-par.
Chasing a record-equalling eighth Order of Merit title on the DP World Tour, McIlroy entered the week pursuing Race to Dubai leader Eugenio Chacarra, who ended Friday's round tied for 38th place.
Players are competing in the lucrative postseason event at Yas Links to secure their positions in the standings before the upcoming season finale in Dubai, with McIlroy well-positioned for the weekend rounds.
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