The rarest score in golf propelled Aaron Rai to a superb second round and a share of the lead after 36 holes at the DP World Tour’s 2025 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
Rai made an albatross at the par-5 second hole at Yas Links Golf Club, measuring 528 yards Friday. After hammering a drive down the middle of the fairway, he sunk his second shot from 214 yards out,
“I think we had about 185 yards to the front. The wind was a little bit down off the left and that green is so fast, and slopes front-to-back, that anything pitching a few yards onto the green always gets down to the bottom,” Rai said. “I actually caught it a little bit clean off the face, the line was great. I think it probably pitched around the front edge and chased its way down there. We couldn’t see it from back on the fairway, so it was a nice surprise.”
Rai — who has one win on the PGA Tour and is seeking his third DP World Tour victory — ultimately signed for a bogey-free, 8-under 64 to follow up his Thursday 66 and enter the weekend at 14 under, tied with fellow Englishman Tommy Fleetwood.
Fleetwood fired the same two scores as Rai, but flipped, turning in a bogey-free 64 on Thursday before shooting 66 on Friday. He started his second round with three straight birdies.
“Starting well was really important. I just did a really good job. I hit a lot of good shots but a few times today I drove it into the rough and we read the lies really well,” Fleetwood said. “I felt like we did a great job of controlling the ball out of the rough, and that was really pleasing. I feel like I putted solid again. Six under was a very good score.”
Fleetwood (playing with a new driver) will go into the weekend with another opportunity to add to what has been a banner year for the 34-year-old English superstar.
He finally broke into the PGA Tour winner’s circle by emerging victorious at the season-ending Tour Championship, nabbing the FedEx Cup and the $10 million check that came with it. A month later, he went 4-1 at the Ryder Cup and helped lead Team Europe to its first victory on U.S. soil since 2012. He won again a few weeks ago at the DP World India Championship, where his son, Frankie, got to greet his victorious dad on the green at long last.
Fleetwood and Rai, along with Richard Sterne (12 under), will be last off the tee Saturday morning at 2:55 a.m. ET. Right behind them will be Nicolai Hojgaard, who sits in a tie for third with Sterne and Andy Sullivan. Shane Lowry (T-6, 11 under) also enters the weekend in contention, while Rory McIlroy (T-20, 8 under) will look to make a Saturday charge.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Aaron Rai makes albatross, ties Tommy Fleetwood for lead in Abu Dhabi
