Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy, once again paired together for the second round of the Dubai Invitational, endured starkly contrasting days as the Ryder Cup colleagues sought to combat stiff winds at the Creek Golf Club.
While Lowry managed to keep his wits and grind his way to a 68 to reach the midpoint in a share of the lead with Spain’s Nacho Elviro on five-under-par 137, the Masters champion and world number two McIlroy cut a frustrated figure with no fewer than five visits to water hazards in grinding out a 74 for 140, dropping him to a share of fifth, three off the leaders.
The six-stroke swing between Lowry and McIlroy was played out in difficult, windy conditions, compounded by tediously long six-hour rounds (due to the pro-am nature of the event), but it was the Offalyman who kept better focus.
In a round of five birdies and two bogeys, managing to come back on the difficult homeward run without dropping a shot, Lowry – seeking a first win on the DP World Tour since his BMW PGA Championship success in 2022 – produced a fine up-and-down after missing the green with his approach to the 18th to join Elviro as the leader heading into Saturday’s round, two ahead of David Puig and Marcus Armitage.
Lowry got off to a flying start with a birdie from eight feet on the first and hit his approach inside three feet on the second to make back-to-back birdies. After dropping a shot on the Par 3 sixth when he three-putted, Lowry bounced back with a birdie from two feet after another pinpoint wedge approach on the seventh. A bogey on the ninth was followed by a birdie on the 10th and his fifth birdie was secured from 30 feet on the 16th.
Rory McIlroy plays his third shot on the 18th on day two of the 2026 Dubai Invitational. Photograph: Andrew Redington/Getty Images
“I just had a great day out there, I really enjoyed it. I had a great group, two great amateurs, and playing golf in a good frame of mind makes it a little bit easier. That’s sort of a little lesson for me for the rest season. If I play golf like that for the rest season in that frame of mind, I’ll be pretty good,” said Lowry.
“Control and patience (was) everything,” he added, “just putting the ball in play and not doing nothing silly and not making any big mistakes was key out there and I did that. I’m looking forward to (the weekend). You know, first tournament of the year you don’t know what to expect, so going out there in the last group now on Saturday is nice, and yeah, keep it going and we’ll see what happens.”
In contrast, McIlroy’s round tested his patience, with a string of errors that saw him hit four balls into the water and find the hazard for a fifth time on the 18th, where his approach rolled into a sandy area amidst the rocks. He managed to play an audacious recovery but failed to find par, finishing with a bogey for his 74, eight shots worse that his opening round 66.
With a new TaylorMade Qi4D driver and fairway woods, and new cavity backed TaylorMade P7CB irons in his bag for this opening tournament of his season, McIlroy – who has also switched to TaylorMade’s new 2026 ball – struggled to find any rhythm and signed for a 74 that slipped him back from the outright lead into a four-way share of fifth through 36 holes.
McIlroy had two birdies and five bogeys in an error-strewn round. His second birdie, from 45 feet on the 16th, looked as if it might energise him for the finish but instead he finished bogey-bogey to lie alongside Thriston Lawrence, Antoine Rozner and Angel Ayora on 140.
Meanwhile, Pádraig Harrington signed for a 75 for 147 and Tom McKibbin a 73, also for 147, to lie in a share of 39th.