Rory McIlroy in contention as Richard Bland leads Dubai Desert Classic
The 49-year-old returned to complete his second round on Saturday morning, carding three more birdies and a solitary bogey in his remaining 14 holes.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Englishman Richard Bland holds a share of the lead at the halfway stage of the Hero Dubai Desert Classic after posting two successive rounds of 67.
The 49-year-old returned to complete his second round on Saturday morning after making three birdies over the first four holes before play was suspended due to fading light on Friday.
And he carded three more birdies and a solitary bogey in his remaining 14 holes to set the target at 10 under par.
Belgium’s Thomas Pieters joined Bland at the summit after closing his Saturday 67 with seven birdies on the back nine before American amateur Michael Thorbjornsen made it a three-way tie.
Thorbjornsen carded an eagle, seven birdies and one bogey in his 64 to grab a share of the lead.
Scotland’s Connor Syme, Swede Marcus Kinhult and Spaniard Adri Arnaus sat one shot off the lead on nine under.
The pre-tournament build-up had been dominated by a war of words between Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy and American Patrick Reed, who were another stroke back on eight under but will play in different groups in Sunday’s third round.
Joining the pair on that number were Englishmen Matt Wallace, Dan Bradbury and Ian Poulter, Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger, Australian Lucas Herbert and Spain’s Angel Hidalgo.
Bland has made just one bogey in the opening two rounds and is happy with where his game is at.
He said: “Every part of my game is in pretty good shape.
“The only dropped shot was at the sixth this morning where (on my) second hole of the day, I misjudged the temperature and chipped to three feet and missed.
“So other than that, it’s been pretty stress-free which is kind of nice.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments