Pieters leads; McIlroy, Johnson also in contention

Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson both made their moves yesterday, butthey were left chasing the long-hitting Thomas Pieters of Belgium at thehalfway stage of the $3 mn Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.The 25-year-old Belgian, who was a star for the European Ryder Cup teamin their loss to the US at Hazeltine, made seven birdies in hisbogey-free round of 65 to climb on top of the leaderboard at 12 underpar.Spain’s Jorge Campillo added a 64 to his opening-round 69 to be onebehind Pieters, while Alexander Levy of France (65) and England’s RossFisher (67) were in tied third place at 10-under 134 alongside overnightjoint leader Tommy Fleetwood (68), who turned 27 on Friday.After a disappointing opening round of even-par 72, world number oneJohnson bounced back with a brilliant bogey-free round ofeight-under-par 64.McIlroy is yet to make a bogey after two rounds and an eagle on hisfinishing hole catapulted him to nine-under for the tournament with around of 66.Pieters, ranked 40th in the world, finished second here in 2016 butmissed the cut last year. However, he once again showed his love for theNational course at Abu Dhabi Golf Club with a round that finished on ahigh note — a chipped-in birdie on the ninth from the greenside bunker.“It was nice to hole one on the last after two terrible shots.Ball-striking was good, but the rest of it was decent today,” saidPieters.“I mean, I hit most of the middle of the greens. If I had a wedge, Iwent at the flag and I think I got up-and-down or made birdie with awedge in my hand three or four times. It wasn’t really that fancy but avery good round.”McIlroy, returning to professional golf after a lay-off of nearly 100days, gave himself plenty of chances in his first 17 holes, butconverted only four birdies. His spirits were clearly lifted when hepoured in his eagle putt from 20 feet on the last.“It was a nice way to finish. Felt like I gave myself tons of chances onthe back nine. I always struggle to read these greens, I feel like I’mhitting good putts and they are just sliding by the edges,” saidMcIlroy, who has slipped to 11th in the world rankings.“But it was nice, I stayed patient and feel like I got what I deservedon the last for staying so patient and it was nice to finish with athree, leapfrog a few guys and get myself into contention for theweekend.”Johnson was pleased with his effort, especially after the even-par 72 round on Thursday.“It was pretty easy for a 64. I did everything really well. I drove itwell. I hit a lot of really good iron shots. Hit a lot of good puttsthat didn’t go in the hole from pretty close range, but all day, I gavemyself really good chances for birdies. It was pretty stress-free,” saidJohnson who made three birdies in his last four holes.The cut fell at two-under par 142. Among the notables who will missweekend play are European Ryder Cup veterans Ian Poulter and LeeWestwood, who missed by one shot.