Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler among Abu Dhabi Golf Championship leaders
Northern Irishman is tied with four others at 10-under to lead field after fog-delayed incomplete third round
Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler were among a quintet tied for the lead in a fog-delayed, incomplete third round of the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship on Saturday as overnight front runner Andy Sullivan’s late triple-bogey halted the Englishman’s charge.
Poor visibility had again delayed the start of play for nearly three hours, with 60 players waiting to complete their second rounds.
I couldn’t hole from outside two feet, so I thought I’d hit a couple of shots within two feet on the last two holes
That made for a strange day’s golf as the likes of McIlroy, US Masters champion Jordan Spieth and world number six Fowler played nine holes in the morning before returning to the course in the late afternoon.
Four-time major winner McIlroy grazed the pin from nearly 270 yards on the final hole of his second round, eventually making an eagle.
READ MORE: Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy drop as Andy Sullivan leads in Abu Dhabi Championship
That followed a birdie on 17 – his first of the round – to catapult the Northern Irishman level with US amateur champion Bryson DeChambeau on eight under and into the tournament-leading trio alongside Sullivan, 28, who was 10 under.
“I couldn’t hole from outside two feet, so I thought I’d hit a couple of shots within two feet on the last two holes. It glossed over a pretty average round,” said the 26-year-old McIlroy.