Rory McIlroy felt he showcased his scoring skills as he battled to remain in contention during the second round of the 2025 DP World Tour Championship.
The World Number Two looks on course to clinch his seventh Race to Dubai Rankings title as he sits above rivals Marco Penge and Tyrrell Hatton in a share of second place with 36 holes of the season remaining.
After opening with a 66, McIlroy mixed six birdies and three dropped shots in his 69 to sit at nine under par alongside European Ryder Cup team-mates Justin Rose and Shane Lowry, with New Zealand's Daniel Hillier and Denmark's Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen also at that mark.
That leaves the chasing pack three adrift of halfway leader Nicolai Højgaard, who was flawless in his 65 on Friday at Jumeirah Golf Estates to reach 12 under.
McIlroy highlighted his great par save at the last as to how difficult the conditions were compared to Thursday.
"I had to battle a little more today than I did yesterday. The conditions were slightly tougher as well," the 36-year-old said.
"If you looked at the scoring yesterday compared to today, it is a little bit tougher.
"I missed a couple more fairways today. And when I did miss the fairways, I got some really bad lies, like the worst lies I've seen this week.
"I didn't even get it back on to the fairway at the last and had to scramble there. But I felt like I showed my scoring skills today and battled well and stayed patient, and got the ball up-and-down when I needed to.
"Overall to shoot 69, I'm pretty pleased considering some of the spots that I found myself."
He was happy with his bouncebackability during his second round as he spoke about his mindset when in difficult positions on the Earth Course.
"I think just hanging around. The one thing I did very well today, when I made a bogey, I bounced back straight away with a birdie which was nice," McIlroy added.
"And I think knowing what the scoring holes are here. So you know, even going into the back nine knowing I've got the two par-fives and I've got 15, the short par four, and there's some difficult holes, as well.
"Like 12 and 13 and 16 and 17, knowing that if you just get through those holes with pars, you know, not trying to be a hero, and then just trying to take advantage of the easier holes, that's sort of how I tried to piece it together today.
"It ended up working well for me and I shot a decent score."
