As was the case upon the completion of the first round, Matt Fitzpatrick and Tyrrell Hatton find themselves alongside each other at the top of the leaderboard heading into the weekend at the 2022 DP World Tour Championship. Playing in the final group in the second round, the two Ryder Cup teammates traded blows around Jumeirah Golf Estates, and ultimately signed for rounds of 5-under 67 to finish their days at 12 under for the tournament.

While Fitzpatrick was the one to shoot out of the gates on Thursday, it was Hatton’s turn on Friday. Connecting on four birdies in his opening five holes, Hatton quickly opened up a three-stroke lead over his playing competitor. 

“I’m pretty happy with the score. I got off to another nice start again today,” said Hatton. “Hopefully the putter stays fairly hot and we have a good weekend. There’s still 36 holes to play. I have a fairly good record around here. Matt [Fitzpatrick] has an excellent record around here. But, you know, we’ll enjoy each other’s company tomorrow and hopefully we can keep playing well.”

Struggles and visible disdain ensued for the world No. 29 as three bogeys in his next seven holes allowed Fitzpatrick to claw his way back. The reigning U.S. Open champion reclaimed a share of the lead with a birdie on the par-4 15th, and pushed ahead with another on the following hole. This lead would be short-lived as Hatton converted a birdie opportunity from 20 feet on the par-3 17th before the two were able to save par on the closing par-5 18th after struggles off the tee.

“Just got to keep pushing on, just keep playing how I feel like I’m playing right now. I feel really comfortable with where my game is at, particularly after three weeks off, and looking forward to the weekend,” said Fitzpatrick. “I feel like I’ve played two good rounds to start with and put myself in position, and I’ll just keep doing more of the same and see where it gets me come Sunday.”

For their efforts, the Englishmen have grown a three-stroke edge over their nearest pursuers. Former European Ryder Cup member Alex Noren stands at 9 under alongside Adri Arnaus, and a bit further back a couple big fish are waiting in the shallows. Two-time DP World Tour Championship winner Jon Rahm stands at 8 under after a splendid round of 6-under 66 while Rory McIlroy is at 5 under courtesy of a fast finish.

Round 2 leaderboard, scores

• T1. Matt Fitzpatrick: -12
• T1. Tyrrell Hatton: -12
• T3. Alex Noren: -9
• T3. Adri Arnaus: -9
• T5. Jon Rahm: -8
• T5. Jorge Campillo: -8
• 6. Kurt Kitayama: -7
• T8. Tommy Fleetwood: -6
• T8. Rasmus Hojgaard: -6
• T8. Min Woo Lee: -6
• T11. Rory McIlroy: -5
• T11. Adrian Otaegui: -5
• T11. Richie Ramsay: -5
• T11. Yannik Paul: -5
• T11. Maximilian Kieffer: -5

World No. 1 may have found something

A birdie-birdie-eagle finish propelled McIlroy to a round of 4-under 68 in his second round and back into contention. Playing his first 33 holes in 1 under, the world No. 1 found himself as many as 10 strokes back. Now at 5 under, he sits in a tie for 11th and only seven adrift. McIlroy is projected to finish second in the DP World Tour Ranking after entering the week in the top spot given Fitzpatrick’s presence at the top of the leaderboard.

“[It was] pretty mediocre golf for the first 33 holes, and then something sort of clicked,” said McIlroy of his fast finish. “Whatever it is, I need to bottle it for the weekend. It was nice to finish with a flourish there and put myself a little closer to the guys. You never know, that finish here on Friday could be key to something that happens over the next 36 holes.”

DP World Tour Championship updated odds and picks

Odds via Caesars Sportsbook

• Matt Fitzpatrick: 8/5
• Tyrrell Hatton: 5/2
• Jon Rahm: 5-1
• Rory McIlroy: 12-1
• Alex Noren: 12-1
• Adri Arnaus: 25-1
• Kurt Kitayama: 30-1
• Tommy Fleetwood: 35-1

One member of the English pair is likely to nab this title, but I can’t help but look in the direction of Rahm at 5-1. Entering the week as one of the hottest players in the world, the Spaniard was able to climb his way back into this tournament with seven birdies against only one bogey. Rahm left a couple shots out there on Friday and should be in with a chance come the final nine holes on Sunday if he is able to wield the putter in the same manner as his previous five starts.

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Three major winners emerged as the favorites to win the DP World Tour Championship earlier this week, and one of them co-leads in Dubai after Round 1 as the DP World Tour season comes to a close. Matt Fitzpatrick, who has won two of the last six season-ending tournaments on this golf course, shot a 7-under 65 and is tied with Tyrrell Hatton after 18 holes of play.

For a while, it looked as if it might be even better than that. Fitzpatrick birdied his first five holes before cooling off and playing the next 13 in just 2 under. Still, it’s an ideal start for the reigning U.S. Open champion as he looks to cap what has been a spectacular year with a second win and, potentially, his first Harry Vardon trophy, given to the player who tops the DP World Tour’s season-long points race.

“I was laughing to be honest [about the hot start],” Fiztpatrick said. “I said to [caddie] Billy [Foster] yesterday, ‘When we won in 2020, didn’t we have four in a row?’ Then we did four in a row and we laughed about that, then I made a fifth. It was a nice start to the day.”

Hatton, too, had a nice start to his day. He birdied four of the first seven, and then four more after that before making his only bogey of the day (a six on the 18th hole). He fell into a tie with Fitzpatrick because of a mistake at the last but is still in a good spot to get what would be his first win since Abu Dhabi at the start of 2021.

“I’m surprised to hear it’s my lowest round to start with [at this event],” said Hatton. “Obviously it was a good day. Hit a lot of good shots. Putter was great. Kind of happy with that start. Although my head’s a bit fried at the moment. My mind is just raging at the last there. But it is what it is.”

Those two lead a resurgent Alex Noren by one and Adri Arnaus by two, but the bigger names and more feared players are further back. Tommy Fleetwood is 4 under; Jon Rahm is 2 under; pre-tournament favorite Rory McIlroy is 1 under; Shane Lowry is 1 over; and Viktor Hovland is 2 over. That’s a lot of ground for nearly everyone in this group to make up on two Ryder Cup-level players like Fitzpatrick and Hatton.

“I play well here,” said McIlroy. “[I was] 3 under through eight holes. I’m not — it’s not far away. It’s not as if there’s anything that I need to drastically work on. And yeah, thankfully there’s three rounds left, go out and shoot a good one tomorrow and be ready for the weekend.”

The silver lining for McIlroy is two fold. One, there’s plenty of time left to make up a lot of ground, and he’s perhaps the best ever on this golf course (although Fitzpatrick is terrific as well). Two, McIlroy only narrowly trails Fitzpatrick for the season-long points race. Even if Fitzpatrick wins, McIlroy can still win the race by finishing second in this field.

Regardless, the tone has been set by two Englishmen for this week’s tournament. Several other superstars are chasing, but running down one of Hatton and Fitzpatrick will be difficult enough. To get by two of them will be, if it happens, an extraordinary feat.

DP World Tour Championship Odds

• Matt Fitzpatrick: +230
• Tyrrell Hatton: +450
• Rory McIlroy: +750
• Alex Noren: 9-1
• Jon Rahm: 9-1
• Tommy Fleetwood: 11-1

Fitzpatrick and McIlroy have changed positions here. McIlroy was shorter than 3-1 to win coming into this week, and Fitzpatrick was 9-1 before his 65 in the first round. I’m hesitant about the players beyond Hatton because of how quality the top two are, and I’m glad to have picked Fitzpatrick at 9-1. However, if I have to take somebody outside of the top two, I’m going with Fleetwood, who is coming off a win last week in South Africa and just three back.

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