ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates -- Phillip Price fired a 7-under 65 on Friday to take the lead midway through the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship.
Price had eight birdies with just one bogey and took a one-shot lead over Padraig Harrington with a tap-in birdie at the 18th. It is the 10th time he has held the 36-hole lead on the European Tour.
‘I can’t remember when that last happened,’ said Price, who stands at 10-under-par 134. ‘Probably when I won the Smurfit back in 2003.’
Actually, his last second-round lead came at the 2004 Heritage, where he finished fifth after closing with consecutive rounds in the 70s. He’ll be aiming to avoid a repeat of that.
‘I drove the ball fantastic today and putted well,’ Price said.
Harrington shot a 5-under 67 and is alone in second place at 9-under 135. Last year’s Order of Merit winner posted a 31 on the front nine, a 36 on the back and held the clubhouse lead before being passed by Price.
‘I am happy with the score. If you offered me 5 under going out, I would have taken it,’ Harrington said. ‘I can’t complain about being in this position going into the weekend.’
Miguel Angel Jimenez (65), Shiv Kapur (66), Nick O’Hern (68) and Alessandro Tadini (66) share third place at 8-under 136.
Among the remaining pack sit a handful of the tour’s best players. Many of them failed to make a move Friday at Abu Dhabi Golf Club.
Retief Goosen, Henrik Stenson and Nick Dougherty shot matching 72s and are four shots off the pace at 6-under 138. Thursday, they shared second place behind first-round leader Phillip Archer, who struggled to a 75 and joined them in 11th place.
Defending champion Chris DiMarco had a 70 and is tied with the likes of Paul Casey and Paul Lawrie at 139. One shot further back, Sergio Garcia and Colin Montgomerie lead a large group at 140 -- just six shots from the lead.
The cut fell at 1-under 143 with 75 players moving on and 44 going home.
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