DP World Tour Championship leaderboard <\/p>\n
-12 N Hojgaard (Den); -9 R McIlroy (NI), D Hillier (Aus), J Rose (Eng), S Lowry (Ire), R Neergaard-Petersen (Den) -8 T Fleetwood (Eng), L Canter (Eng), R MacIntyre (Sco), A Noren (Swe) <\/p>\n
Selected others: -7 T Hatton (Eng); -6 M Fitzpatrick (Eng), J Parry (Eng); -5 G Forest (Sco), E Ferguson (Sco); E M Penge (Eng)<\/p>\n
Rory McIlroy continued his charge for his seventh Race to Dubai title after a strong second round at the DP World Tour Championship.<\/p>\n
The Northern Irishman hit a three-under 69 to sit in a five-man tie for second – alongside the likes of Ireland’s Shane Lowry and England’s Justin Rose – on nine under par.<\/p>\n
The chasing pack are three strokes behind Denmark’s Nicolai Hojgaard, who fired 65 on day two in the United Arab Emirates.<\/p>\n
“I had to battle a little more today,” said McIlroy, who mixed six birdies and three bogeys in his second round display.<\/p>\n
“I felt like I showed my scoring skills and stayed patient, and got the ball up and down when I needed to.<\/p>\n
“And overall, to shoot 69, I’m pretty pleased considering some of the spots that I found myself.”<\/p>\n
The 36-year-old has a 767-point lead at the top of the season-long rankings for his fourth consecutive Race to Dubai title. <\/p>\n