Tommy Fleetwood’s heroics of equalling the Yas Links course record after the first round of the Abu Dhabi Championship didn’t last long, as unheralded Englishman Paul Waring produced the best round of his career to surge into a five shot lead ahead of the third round of the 2024 Abu Dhabi Championship.
Waring who is 39 and ranked 229 in the world, is seeking his first European Tour title since 2018 and this would easily rank as the highlight of his career.
Blitzing his way around the Abu Dhabi course in just 61 strokes, Waring is very much the man to catch today, but with birdie opportunities all over the course, there will be plenty teeing off today who will believe he can be caught.
Ahead of what could be a special day, here are the main talking points of the first two rounds.
DP World Tour shows off its depth as Paul Waring powers into the lead
With the buoy of the best players in the world having already stopped their seasons on the PGA and LIV Tours, this is an opportunity for the DP World Tour to show what it’s all about.
Often maligned for a lack of star names, the DP World Tour Playoffs can banish that myth and nearly all of Europe’s best golfers are in attendance this week.
Winning golf tournaments is hard and although the DP World Tour may not regularly steal the golfing headlines, the quality and strength in depth that it possesses can rival that of any tour. That has been epitomised by the performance of Paul Waring.
At 39 and 229 in the world, Waring is the quintessential golf journeyman, but he still is a world class player and is more than capable of beating and competing some of the best players in the world.
A DP World Tour winner back in 2018 at the Nordea Masters, Waring took a huge stride to winning the biggest title of his career when he shocked the European golfing world with a superb second round 61.
His eleven under par round was by far the lowest of his career and contained 9 birdies and 1 eagle. His brilliant birdie on the final hole ensured that he would break the course record and it set him up perfectly for a shot at glory this weekend.
Often a low scoring event, Waring already stands at -19 after just 36 holes and it’s highly likely that the winning score after Sunday’s final round will be the lowest in the tournament’s history. With birdie chances on almost every hole, if Waring is to taste success on the biggest stage that the European Tour has to offer, he will need to continue being aggressive.
With records smashed, there is hope for the rest of the field
Although Paul Waring holds a strong lead, there is significant hope for the rest of the field that they will be able to track the Englishman down.
Starting the third round in hot pursuit of Waring is Tommy Fleetwood. A former Race to Dubai Champion back in 2017, Fleetwood entered the week some way behind Rory McIlroy in the overall Race to Dubai money standings and knew that his slim chances of stealing European golf’s top prize away from his Ryder Cup teammate could only happen with a victory this week. After two rounds, Fleetwood has enabled himself to do exactly that.
Coming out of the traps on Thursday hot, he was able to equal the course record with a stunning round of 62. Looking to kick on in the second round, he could do nothing as he saw Waring better his score, but he was able to keep himself in contention with a four under round of 68.
Too often Fleetwood is named as a man who is unable to make the most of winning situations and many feel he doesn’t have the titles to match his talents. He will be wanting to prove those doubters wrong this weekend.
Starting alongside Fleetwood for the third round is the Danish duo of Niklas Norgaard and Thorbjorn Olesen. Olesen, who was a winner a few weeks ago in Paris, could be worth keeping an eye on. Not only is Olesen a multiple time winner on the European Tour but he is playing some of the best golf in the field and will be confident of making another move today.
Starting a little further behind that trio are three Englishman, Laurie Canter, Matt Wallace and Tyrell Hatton and all have significant things to play for this weekend.
Laurie Canter can help move towards history this week. Having left the DP World Tour for LIV, Canter is back to being a regular on Europe and thanks to his win at the European Open he is close to snatching one of the ten PGA Tour cards available to the highest finishers in the Race to Dubai standings.
No man who has played on the Saudi funded league has ever been able to gain eligibility for the PGA Tour but if Canter can keep up his form this weekend he could be the first man to do so.
Matt Wallace has had an up and down year but he showed his class when winning the European Masters a few months ago. Setting his sights on making a first Ryder Cup team next year, Wallace will hope to attract the attention of European Captain Luke Donald this weekend.
One man who is likely to be at Bethpage Black next year is Tyrell Hatton. After having a brilliant year on the LIV Tour, Hatton climbed up the world rankings thanks to his victory at the Alfred Dunhill Links a few weeks ago and he has brought that good form into the first few rounds this week.
A former winner of this title, Hatton will know what he has to do in order to close the seven shot deficit he currently has with Waring and few would be surprised if he were to overhaul his lead at the top of the leaderboard.
Jack Hartman
A keen golfer and huge fan of the game, Jack has been covering golf for the last five years. Bringing you all the latest coverage and news from the PGA, LIV, LPGA and DP World Tours, never before has golf been so popular and Jack can’t wait to bring all the excitement to his readers.
