The world may, in fact, be healing. The top of the leaderboard at the 2026 Abu Dhabi Championship through 36 holes includes Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton, two players who recently chose to bypass LIV Golf 2.0 in lieu of a return to the European circuit. Right behind them is Rory McIlroy, a man who aims to track down yet another Race to Dubai title just as his battle against LIV Golf comes to a close.
Hatton and Rahm — former Legion XIII teammates on LIV Golf — lead the way at the halfway mark at 12 under alongside Francesco LaPorta of Italy. Both players penciled eight birdies onto their scorecards on Friday, although Rahm was a tad messier with three bogeys compared to Hatton’s one around Yas Links.
“Pretty good play,” Rahm said. “Only thing to take back would be just a couple of bad tee shots right now, feeling fairly comfortable otherwise. Just there’s been a couple of swings off the tee that were unexpected. But hopefully I can fix that, but otherwise the play has been lovely.”
Neither player was able to sign for the round of the day, however, as that honor instead went to McIlroy. After taking an unplayable lie on the first hole and carding a bogey, the seven-time Race to Dubai winner rattled off 11 birdies over the course of his round to sign for a second-round 63 and position himself at 11 under for the tournament.
McIlroy’s 11 birdies represent a new personal best for him in a single round on the DP World Tour.
“I did everything well again. I drove the ball well. I hit my irons well. I putted a little bit better,” McIlroy said. “I saw a few more putts go in, which is something that I haven’t been seeing for the last couple of months. I finished second at Wentworth. Felt like if I had holed any putts at the weekend, I could have walked away with the win there. Struggled on the greens in India. But did some work with Brad Faxon last week and feel like I’m in a better spot with it. I definitely saw some encouraging signs on the greens today.”
McIlroy’s 63 comes one day after he was given a two-stroke penalty for improving his lie on the par-4 12th. After putting a double bogey on his scorecard, McIlroy was forced to change his score to an eight once the ruling was confirmed. Ultimately, the world No. 2 opened with a 2-under 70.
“Before I left the course, I made peace with it,” McIlroy said. “I didn’t dwell on it or I didn’t feel like I did anything wrong. But then at the same time, I said the video didn’t look good, like the close-up of it. So, again, I just never wanted the perception, people feeling like I got away with something.
“Yeah, I just wouldn’t want that sitting with me. So I was happy — I’d much rather be two shots worse off than be called a cheat. So that’s what I did, and I made peace with it. At least I went out today, like it wasn’t playing on my mind. I had a clear conscience, and I could just go and play.”
Given his position in the Race to Dubai, McIlroy played his first round with the two players ahead of him in the season-long race, leader Eugenio Chacarra and friendly foe Patrick Reed. Both Chacarra and Reed have been without their best stuff, as the American sits at 1 over for the tournament, while the 26-year-old everyone hopes to chase down is at 3 under after rounds of 70-71.
