Rory McIlroy remains in the lead at the Dubai Invitational despite a disastrous visit to the par three 8th on Friday which saw him walk away with a quadruple bogey.
Playing for the first time since November, McIlroy put in an impressive opening round on Thursday which saw him in the lead by two at the end of the day's play.
The form which brought his bogey-free 62 on Thursday seemed to have returned on Friday morning, with McIlroy birdieing the 4th and 5th holes to extend his advantage to four shots as he approached the 8th hole.
Disaster was to strike, with McIlroy's decisive lead completely wiped out by a quadruple bogey after he hit the water twice on the same hole.
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Rory McIlroy leads in Dubai despite quadruple bogey
It was evident immediately that Rory McIlroy was not happy with his tee shot at the 8th hole, as he saw the ball drift to the left and splash into the water, leading to a drop shot.
When he took his second go from the tee, McIlroy would extraordinarily hit the ball into the water once more. At least this time the Northern Irishman found the green, but the bounce and spin of the ball carried it into the water hazard and left him to ponder a third tee shot.
"Vad håller han på med? Vad gör han?" 🤯
McIlroy tappar hela sin ledning på det åttonde hålet 👀 pic.twitter.com/vgq2tnA8Lq— Viaplay Golf (@ViaplayGolfSE) January 12, 2024
Ultimately, with penalties included, McIlroy walked away from the par three with a seven on his scorecard, and he dropped back into a five-way tie for the lead on -7.
Thankfully for the four-time major winner, the quadruple bogey was to be the only hole on which he dropped shots on Friday. Birdies at the 10th, 13th, and 16th holes meant that McIlroy even finished his Friday round with a one-under-par 70, to leave him sitting on -10 entering the weekend.
Rory McIlroy is two shots clear in the lead of the Dubai Invitational. He will tee off on Saturday alongside Yannik Paul at 6:39 am Irish time. Coverage gets underway at 8 am on Sky Sports Golf.
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