Paul Lawrie and Monty miss the low-scoring Round 2 cut

Rory McIlroy's birdie blitz takes him into 

two-shot lead in Dubai

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Rory McIlroy made five birdies in seven holes to open up a two-shot lead as the weather-delayed second round of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic was completed on Saturday morning.
After a fog delay of 2hr 50min on Friday, half the field had to return to complete their rounds, with McIlroy three shots behind clubhouse leader Jamie Donaldson as he stood on the 12th tee.
The Northern Irishman made gains on the 12th, 13th, 16th, 17th and last to get to 15 under and lead the way from Donaldson, with Li Haotong - another Friday finisher - then at 12 under.
McIlroy claimed his first European Tour victory at Emirates Golf Club in 2009 and after another win in 2015 is now looking to join Ernie Els as a three-time champion.
The 28 year old missed the event last year due to the rib injury that plagued his season but after a tie for third at last week's Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship presented by EGA, he continued to make good progress with his 64 in the UAE.
"That was pretty nice," he said. "I knew with the conditions this morning there were chances out there, obviously with the two par fives and 17. To take care of those and birdie a couple others, to finish five under for my last seven was a nice way to finish this morning.
"I didn't really have a score in mind or anything. I just wanted to go out there and play a good seven holes and hopefully get myself into contention for the last couple of rounds. I sort of did that and maybe a little bit more and it's nice to go into the weekend in the lead.

"Probably got a bit of a break between now and going back out there so I'll probably get a little bit of physio treatment, make sure everything's okay and hit some balls and practise. Look forward to getting out there again this afternoon."
Branden Grace had signed for a 65 on Friday to sit at 11 under and he was joined four shots off the lead by Swede Alexander Björk, England's David Horsey and Dane Lasse Jensen.
Björk had two birdies and two bogeys in his remaining six holes, while Jensen picked up shots on the 14th and 17th.
Horsey birdied the 17th, 18th and sixth to get to 12 under but then dropped a shot on the ninth.
Henrik Stenson was five under for his first 11 holes when darkness fell on Friday night and the Swede birdied the 14th, 16th and 18th to sign for a 64 and get to ten under upon the resumption.
Belgian Thomas Detry, Frenchman Alexander Levy, England's Chris Paisley and South African Haydn Poreous also moved into the group at ten under alongside Friday finishers Thomas Aiken and Miguel Ángel Jiménez.
A total of 70 players made the cut at five under 139, the lowest in the history of this event by two shots. Big names who missed the cut included Paul Lawrie (140), Colin Montgomerie (141)
SECOND-ROUND LEADERBOARD
par 144 (2x72)

129 R McIlroy 65 64
131 J Donaldson 62 69.
132 H T Li 66 66
133 D Horsey 63 70, L Jensen 65 68, B Grace 68 65.

SCOTS' SCORES
138 S Jamieson 68 70
139 S Gallacher 71 68, R Ramsay 70 69.

MISSED THE CUT (139 and better qualified)
140 C Syme 70 70, P Lawrie 68 72.
141 C Montgomerie 72 69.
145 M Warren 70 75. 

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