McIlroy, Reed impress as Dubai Desert Classic hit by further rain

Rory McIlroy enjoyed a spectacular finish to his opening round as further weather delays at the Dubai Desert Classic yesterday forced organisers to schedule a Monday finish.
Sweden’s world amateur number one Ludvig Aberg and Ian Poulter shared the 18-hole lead after seven-under-par 65s.
Most of the field did not even have time to start their second rounds before darkness fell, although Poulter was joined at the top of the leaderboard on eight-under by Richard Bland after a few holes of round two.
World number one McIlroy fired a six-under first round of 66, returning after a solid start on Thursday to finish in stunning fashion. He made a birdie, eagle and another birdie in his closing three holes.
That included a holed-out second shot on the par-four eighth, his penultimate hole, and a near eagle on the par-four ninth.
“I should not have warmed up for an hour,” quipped McIlroy.
“I was hopeful that I would hole that birdie putt on seventh (he hit his tee shot to four feet when play was suspended on Thursday) and get to three-under and then maybe birdie one of the last two and get to four-under.
“I would have been ecstatic with that. To do what I did, it glosses over the golf I played. There’s no way I should have shot six-under par out there for the last couple days.
“I feel lucky to be in this position. I could have been at least four or five shots worse. Usually, I would be the master at turning 66s into 70s, and that was a 70 turned into a 66.”
LIV Golf star Patrick Reed, who was involved in a controversial incident before the tournament when he was accused of throwing a tee at four-time major champion McIlroy, eagled his 18th hole to also finish on 66.
The second round did get under way and England’s Bland moved to the top of the leaderboard alongside fellow LIV Golf player Poulter.
Bland, who lost in a play-off to Viktor Hovland at the event last year, made three birdies in his first four holes, while Poulter birdied his third hole of the second round.
With more than nine hours lost because of rain - close to 60 millimetres were dumped on the golf course over the two days - the organisers decided to schedule the third round for tomorrow and the final round on Monday in an effort to make it a 72-hole tournament. “This is one of the biggest events on the DP World Tour and we clearly want to make every effort possible to get to 72 holes at one of our biggest championships,” European Tour tournament director Mike Stewart said.
The 23-year-old Aberg earned his place in the tournament as the top-ranked player from the PGA Tour’s university rankings, and he wasted no time in showcasing his potential.
Aberg started with a bogey, but made eight birdies after that. Two bogeys saw him slip to three shots off the lead after seven holes of his second round.
The Dubai Desert Classic is the second straight week of Rolex Series events on the European Tour. The winner walks away with $1.5mn and important Ryder Cup points.

Ryder stretches lead to three strokes at windy Torrey Pines
American Sam Ryder defied gusting winds at Torrey Pines on Thursday to fire a four-under par 68 and push his lead to three strokes in the US PGA Tour Farmers Insurance Open.
Ryder, who shared the overnight lead with England’s Aaron Rai and fellow American Brent Grant, had five birdies on the South Course for a 12-under par total of 132 - three strokes clear of playing partner Brendan Steele.
Steele, who started the day one off the lead, closed with back-to-back birdies in a two-under par 70 for a nine-under par total of 135.
“It feels great,” Ryder said of taking the lead into the weekend in search of his first US PGA Tour title.
“The thing I’ve been kind of telling myself is to just try and embrace it. It’s not a position that I’ve been in a lot, you know, so just trying to enjoy it.”
Ryder followed a two-foot birdie at the third with a bogey at the fourth, where he was in a fairway bunker and a greenside bunker.
He rebounded with an eight-foot birdie at the fifth, and rolled in a six-footer at the 10th, a 10-footer at the 13th and a 12-footer at 14.
“I’m just doing everything pretty solid,” Ryder said.
“Starts off the tee for me, I’m driving it well. My iron play is really good, so I feel like if I put it in the fairway, I can attack. And I don’t think I really missed many shots today.
“I feel like I had a couple nice bunker saves, things that you have to do to keep rounds going especially on a tough day like this, where it’s windy around a tough course,” added Ryder, who led by as many as five before Steele cut the deficit with his birdie-birdie finish.
“Obviously conditions (were) way more difficult and the (South) course is more difficult on its own anyway,” said Steele, who won the most recent of his three tour titles when he defended his Safeway Open title in October of 2017.
US PGA Tour rookie Tano Goya of Argentina had six birdies in a five-under 67 on the North Course - one of two in use over the first two rounds - for sole possession of third place on seven-under 137.
Overnight co-leader Grant was among a group sharing fourth on 138 after a two-over 74, while Rai slid down the leaderboard with a six-over par 78.
Spain’s Jon Rahm, who won the 2021 US Open at Torrey Pines, needed a strong finish on the North Course to find himself with a share of 14th on four-under par 140.
Rahm teed off on the 10th needing to gain ground after a first-round 73 and remained one-over for the tournament - flirting with the cut line - after two birdies and two bogeys in his first nine holes.
He got things going, however, with an eagle at the par-five fifth hole, the birdied the sixth, seventh and eighth as he powered home for a five-under par 67.
“I knew that’s probably in any given day the most scorable part of the golf course,” Rahm said.
“Luckily I’ve been hitting it really good... just kind of guessed with the wind right in all of them.