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Golf

Aaron Rai tied for lead in Abu Dhabi after making albatross

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Aaron Rai holed out from 214 yards for an albatross in his 8-under 64 that left him tied for the lead with fellow Englishman Tommy Fleetwood after the second round of the Abu Dhabi Championship on Friday.

Rai’s second shot at the par-5 No. 2 pitched a few yards onto the green then rolled down into the cup at Yas Links Golf Club.

“You couldn’t see it from the back of the fairway, so it was a nice surprise,” said Rai, who started his bogey-free round two strokes off the lead at the next-to-last event of the European tour’s 2025 season.

Fleetwood, the winner in 2017 and ’18, was one of five players in a share of the lead after an opening-round 64 and the FedEx Cup champion added a 66 – helped by birdies at his first three holes – to move to 14 under for the week alongside Rai.

“I’m having a lot of good rounds,” Fleetwood said of his strong finish to the season, which has included being the top points scorer in Europe’s Ryder Cup win in September and winning the India Championship last month. “But I’m not stupid, and it’s bitten me enough times.”

Three players – Andy Sullivan (67), Nicolai Hojgaard (67) and Richard Sterne (68) – were two strokes back, while Shane Lowry was one of four players a further shot behind after a 69.

No. 2-ranked Rory McIlroy shot a second straight 68 and was 8 under overall, six strokes behind Rai and Fleetwood.

McIlroy leads the Race to Dubai standings and is attempting to win the season-long points race on the European tour for a seventh time, which would put him just one behind Colin Montgomerie’s record haul.

Marco Penge (68) is McIlroy’s nearest rival in the Race to Dubai and is a stroke ahead of the Northern Irishman, having played in the same group for the first two days.

Golf

Dunlap, Valimaki tie course record at 61, tied atop Mexico

LOS CABOS, Mexico — Nick Dunlap turned a tough lie into a chip-in eagle on his final hole Thursday to tie the course record with an 11-under 61, only for Sami Valimaki to join him about 30 minutes later on a day of low scoring in the World Wide Technology Championship.

Both were desperate for some good results, particularly Valimaki. While the 27-year-old from Finland made a late push to secure his European tour card with a runner-up finish in Switzerland, he came to El Cardonal at Diamante at No. 103 in the FedEx Cup.

Only the top 100 keep full status for 2026, and only three tournaments are left.

“It’s not the best pressure, but it’s how it is,” Valimaki said. “At least I made my card back in Europe so at least I have something over there, so I feel like that gives you a little extra freedom. Of course, you want to play here. Just have to play good these last three.”

He played bogey-free on a picturesque day along the Pacific with no wind, allowing players to take aim, and it showed in the scores. Valimaki played bogey-free for his 61, a course record first set by Carson Young in the second round last year.

Dunlap is well outside the top 100 but still has full status from his two wins last year, the first when he was still in school at Alabama that led to him turning pro. He played his final six holes in 6-under par, including the chip-in eagle on the par-5 closing hole.

“Golf’s been very hard recently and today was the opposite of that,” Dunlap said. “I think I hit every fairway. The fairways are pretty forgiving out here for the most part. Gave myself a ton of good iron and wedge opportunities and rolled it really, really nice.”

They had a three-shot lead over a group of five players that included Vince Whaley, who continued his steady fall, having started right at No. 100 and improved to No. 89 — some breathing room, but still not enough with tournaments left in Bermuda and the Georgia coast.

Also at 64 was Kris Ventura, who was born in Mexico until moving to his mother’s homeland of Norway when he was 12.

“I’m 50% Mexican, so half my life has been over here almost,” Ventura said. “This is where I started my career — I started very young when I was 3 representing Mexico … and then we moved to Norway.”

Ventura is also aware of recent tournament history — fellow Oklahoma State alumni Austin Eckroat and Viktor Hovland are past champions.

“Yeah, I’ve seen their pictures up at dining as past winners and I think that would be cool if I can give it a shot,” Ventura said.

The group at 65 included Ryder Cup rookie Ben Griffin, former British Open champion Francesco Molinari and Matt Kuchar, the 47-year-old trying to keep a full card for another year.

Johnny Keefer, the player of the year on the Korn Ferry Tour who received a sponsor’s exemption, opened with a 66. Keefer is No. 53 in the world ranking and is hopeful of finishing the year inside the top 50 to secure a spot in the Masters.

U.S. Open champion J.J. Spaun, in his first tournament since the Ryder Cup, was at 67.

More than three-quarters of the 120-man field broke par — 20 players were at 66 or better — at the Tiger Woods-designed resort course at the southern tip of the peninsula, with its forgiving fairways. The best defense is the wind off the ocean, and it was missing Thursday.

Golf

Fleetwood, Lowry among 5 tied for Abu Dhabi Championship lead

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Past champions Tommy Fleetwood and Shane Lowry were in a five-way tie for the lead at the Abu Dhabi Championship after opening rounds of 8-under 64s on Thursday.

The Ryder Cup stars led along with Frenchman Adrien Saddier, New Zealand’s Kazuma Kobori and South African Richard Sterne — the only player in the field to have also contested the first event in 2006.

Fleetwood, who won the tournament in 2017 and 2018, made eight birdies in a spotless round while 2019 champion Lowry carded nine birdies and a single bogey.

“It’s Thursday. You can obviously play your way out of it, you can’t win it, but eight under is a really nice way to start,” Fleetwood said.

Saddier threatened to move into a sole lead in the afternoon after nine birdies over his first 16 holes but dropped a shot on the 17th.

Sterne made two eagles but also had as many bogeys, while Kobori made an eagle and six birdies in a flawless first-round effort.

There were seven players one shot further back; Alex Noren, Andy Sullivan, Nicolai von Dellingshausen, Nicolai Højgaard, Keita Nakajima, Michael Kim and Nacho Elvira produced 65s.

Ludvig Ã…berg made a hole-in-one on the par-three eighth, landing his tee shot a couple of feet from the pin.

However, he ended his round four shots off the lead along with Ryder Cup teammate Rory McIlroy.