Rory McIlroy closes in on fourth-straight Race to Dubai title at the DP World Tour

DP World Tour Championship leaderboard

-12 N Hojgaard (Den); -9 R McIlroy (NI), D Hillier (Aus), J Rose (Eng), S Lowry (Ire), R Neergaard-Petersen (Den) -8 T Fleetwood (Eng), L Canter (Eng), R MacIntyre (Sco), A Noren (Swe)

Selected others: -7 T Hatton (Eng); -6 M Fitzpatrick (Eng), J Parry (Eng); -5 G Forest (Sco), E Ferguson (Sco); E M Penge (Eng)

Rory McIlroy continued his charge for his seventh Race to Dubai title after a strong second round at the DP World Tour Championship.

The Northern Irishman hit a three-under 69 to sit in a five-man tie for second – alongside the likes of Ireland’s Shane Lowry and England’s Justin Rose – on nine under par.

The chasing pack are three strokes behind Denmark’s Nicolai Hojgaard, who fired 65 on day two in the United Arab Emirates.

“I had to battle a little more today,” said McIlroy, who mixed six birdies and three bogeys in his second round display.

“I felt like I showed my scoring skills and stayed patient, and got the ball up and down when I needed to.

“And overall, to shoot 69, I’m pretty pleased considering some of the spots that I found myself.”

The 36-year-old has a 767-point lead at the top of the season-long rankings for his fourth consecutive Race to Dubai title.

Only English duo Tyrrell Hatton and Marco Penge can stop McIlroy from winning the season-long competition, formerly known as the European Tour’s Order of Merit, but they sit joint-11th and joint-44th respectively.

McIlroy’s fellow Ryder Cup winner Tommy Fleetwood is one of four players on eight-under and ended a remarkable run of 68 consecutive holes without a bogey when he dropped a shot at the 12th hole.

He is joined in a tie for seventh alongside Robert MacIntyre, Alex Noren and Laurie Canter, while Tyrrell Hatton is one shot further back.