Rory McIlroy's bogey-free 64 has him atop the Dubai leaderboard
Here's the recipe for pro golf success: make a lot of birdies and very few bogeys. Consider Rory McIlroy a master chef.
McIlroy owns the lead at the halfway mark of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic after firing a bogey-free, 8-under 64 at Emirates G.C. He's a shot clear of Marc Warren and two clear of Graeme McDowell and Seve Benson.
Through two rounds, the world No. 1 has 15 birdies and a bogey. Sure, McIlroy hasn't finished outside the top 10 in the European Tour's first Dubai stop of the year since earning his first pro win there in 2009, but that kind of pure golf will play anywhere.
The question for McIlroy is if he can get over his weekend woes in Dubai. In his last five Dubai Desert Classic starts before this year, McIlroy was a perfect 10 for 10 in under-par rounds before the weekend cut. After? McIlroy has posted five rounds of par or worse.
McIlroy knows he'll have to keep up the pace he's on to assure a chance at a win.
“Even though I'm in the lead, there's so many people still in with a chance if they shoot a good round tomorrow," he said. "I’ve just got to go out there, stay aggressive, stick to the game plan and try to make as many birdies as I can.”
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
