Abu Dhabi: Having gone dry without a title in the last three years, Martin Kaymer is back in the hunt. That too at the same venue where he has managed to win three of his 11 career European Tour victories — Abu Dhabi Golf Championship.
The two-time Major Championship winner fired a remarkable successive 66 to finish 12 under after round two and is sitting one shot ahead of Spaniard Rafa Cabrera Bello and two ahead of Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Tommy Fleetwood of England and Ireland’s Paul Dunne. Round one leader Henrik Stenson was another shot behind tied on fourth with England’s Tyrell Hatton, Korean Jeung-hun Wang and Spaniard Pablo Larrazabal.
“I played a little bit better than yesterday. It was a bit more difficult today with the wind, especially the first nine. I struck the ball a little bit better and I made a few long putts today, same as yesterday,” said Kaymer, who won here in 2008 and again in 2010 and 2011.
The German went on to reveal that he hasn’t tried to push hard or be more aggressive at the capital course and believes in “enjoying playing his favourite golf course”.
“I don’t try to push at all. Once in a while, when a putt drops in, you catch momentum and you can make another three or four birdies coming in, like it happened today; I think I made only two pars on the back nine. So pushing, I have that experience with pushing,” said Kaymer, who will definitely have those dark disappointing memories of throwing away a 10-shot lead in the final round two years ago to eventual winner Gary Stal of France.
“I approach every day as a new day and don’t compare to what happened the last day or on Thursday, and that’s the same way I will try to approach tomorrow,” revealed Kaymer adding that the rounds were an assurance that his hard work is paying off.
“You never know, after a long break like that. I didn’t play a tournament for seven weeks. Then you come out here and shoot 12-under par after two rounds, obviously a brilliant start.”
Defending champion Rickie Fowler and US Open champion Dustin Johnson also made the cut on four under, but Masters champion Danny Willett shot six over which also included a quadruple-bogey nine on the 10th.
Stenson, speaking about his 71 for the day, said: “I think game-wise, it wasn’t too bad. I felt at times I was hitting it better today. A couple of soft bogeys in the middle of the round. I felt a little slow all day.”
Aphibarnrat was also elated with his effort — especially his two birdies towards the end.
“The shot on 17 was one of the best shots for me at the moment in the first two rounds, just from the left bunker. 6-iron from over 180 yards, inside eight feet, was a birdie chance. Then holed that putt and made a lot of pressure,” said Aphibarnrat adding that his hitting was pretty good despite a couple of mis-shots. However, he feels that there is very little room for error on this course and it can be quite punishing.
“The golf course is not really easy when you’ve got a missed shot. So it’s quite a difficult opportunity to get to the greens, a couple of good up-and-downs but I managed a lot of good putts today.”
England’s Lee Westwood ended the day five shots off the pace but the 43-year-old was still pleased with his showing.
“It’s really good. I generally don’t start off seasons too quickly so to be right in contention the first tournament of the year, having not played a lot of golf, I’m delighted,” said Westwood.
Leading second-round scores at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship at the National course of Abu Dhabi Golf Club on Friday (par 72):
132 — Martin Kaymer (GER) 66-66
133 — Rafa Cabrera-Bello (ESP) 67-66
134 — Tommy Fleetwood (ENG) 67-67, Paul Dunne (IRL) 68-66, Kiradech Aphibarnrat (THA) 66-68
135 — Pablo Larrazabal (ESP), Wang Jeung-hun (KOR) 68-67, Tyrrell Hatton (ENG) 67-68, Henrik Stenson (SWE) 64-71
136 — Sam Brazel (AUS) 71-65, Chris Paisley (ENG) 71-65
137 — Chris Hanson (ENG) 71-66, Lee Westwood (ENG) 68-69, Maximilian Kieffer (GER) 70-67, Bernd Wiesberger (AUT) 68-69, Curtis Luck (Am-AUS) 72-65, Peter Uihlein (USA) 70-67, Peter Hanson (SWE) 68-69, Bradley Dredge (WAL) 68-69
138 — Ross Fisher (ENG) 69-69, Gary Stal (FRA) 69-69, An Byeong-hun (KOR) 69-69, Branden Grace (RSA) 68-70, Oliver Fisher (ENG) 66-72, Jordan Smith (ENG) 68-70, Thomas Bjorn (DEN) 68-70, Jason Scrivener (AUS) 68-70, Marc Warren (SCO) 66-72, Alex Noren (SWE) 71-67, Benjamin Hebert (FRA) 71-67
139 — Dean Bermester (RSA) 69-70, Lee Slattery (ENG) 68-71, Daniel Brooks (ENG) 73-66, Anthony Wall (ENG) 69-70, Thorbjorn Olesen (DEN) 69-70, George Coetzee (RSA) 70-69, David Drysdale (RSA) 70-69
140 — Matteo Manassero (ITA) 73-67, Andy Sullivan (ENG) 70-70, Magnus A Carlsson (SWE) 74-66, Mikko Korhonen (FIN) 68-72, David Lipsky (USA) 68-72, Robert Karlsson (SWE) 70-70, Alvaro Quiros (ESP) 70-70, Rickie Fowler (USA) 72-68, Dustin Johnson (USA) 72-68, Alejandro Canizares (ESP) 72-68, Ryan Fox (AUS) 69-71, David Horsey (ENG) 71-69, Romain Wattel (FRA) 72-68
Selected:
141 — Ian Poulter (ENG) 69-72
144 — Chris Wood (ENG) 76-68, Matthew Fitzpatrick (ENG) 69-75,
145 — Trevor Immelman (RSA) 72-73, Thomas Pieters (BEL) 73-72
146 — Thongchai Jaidee (THA) 72-74
150 — Darren Clarke (NIR) 75-75, Danny Willett (ENG) 74-76
