Dubai: Race to Dubai leader Henrik Stenson leads the season-ending DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates by a stroke after day two.
The Swede hit an eight-under-par 64 with four birdies which, added to his three-under-par 69 on the first day, helped him jump up three positions on the leaderboard to rule at 12-under par for the tournament.
Stenson is therefore on the cusp of winning the European title and becoming the first player to win both the Race to Dubai and the FedExCup trophies in the same season.
Meanwhile, day-one leader Alejandro Canizares of Spain is one stroke behind Stenson in second place at 11-under par, while Australia’s Marcus Fraser and France’s Victor Dubuisson are tied for third, four strokes off the lead at eight-under par.
Stenson’s closest Race to Dubai challengers, England’s Ian Poulter and Justin Rose, are just five shots off the lead, tied for fifth at seven-under par.
Stenson said: “I’m in a great position to have a shot at winning this golf tournament after two rounds, and hopefully I can be there on Sunday afternoon.”
Of his lead over Race to Dubai threats Poulter and Rose, he added: “They are chasing me as good as they can, and I know neither one of the guys are going to back down, so I better keep my foot down and my head down and try to keep the momentum and play another two good rounds and we’ll see where it takes us.”
Asked what margin, if any, would enable him to relax, Stenson replied: “A nice five-shot cushion is always going to do the trick I think. Three shots is normally pretty nice but I don’t want to jinx anything. Nothing is finished, as we’ve seen a number of times; nothing is really over until it’s over.”
Second-placed Canizares, who added 67 to his first round’s 66, with five birdies, said: “I knew it was going to be difficult to stay up there because I’m playing against great players. I just have to play my golf and play the way I’ve been playing.
“Tomorrow I’m just going to go out there and enjoy it and focus on my game, and hit shot after shot. That’s all I can do.”
Fraser, who was a stroke behind Canizares for second place after round one with 67, hit 69 on day two with three birdies on either nine with a bogey and double bogey on holes five and nine.
Fraser said: “You want to be amongst it going into the weekend, especially this tournament, it’s obviously our biggest tournament of the year, and it would be nice to finish off with a good week here and keep doing what I’m doing into the weekend.”
Otherwise, Turkish Open winner Dubuisson who leapt from tied for tenth on day one with 70, followed it up with 66 to put himself tied for third with Fraser.
