Hatton leads Abu Dhabi; LPGA’s Kang cruising
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Tyrrell Hatton moved five shots ahead of Rory McIlroy on Friday in the second round of the season-opening Abu Dhabi Championship.
The Englishman eagled the second hole and later added four consecutive birdies before play was halted because of fading light after his tee shot on the 14th. He was at 12 under overall when play was stopped.
McIlroy, at 7 under overall and 1 over on the day, birdied the first and third holes but double-bogeyed the par-4 fifth to go with three other bogeys.
The second round will restart Saturday morning with McIlroy and Romain Langasque tied for second with finishers Jason Scrivener (70) and Jazz Janewattananond (69).
In other golf news:
• Danielle Kang continued to sail along at the LPGA Tour’s season-opening Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions, shooting a 6-under 65 to stretch her lead to two shots at Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
A five-time LPGA Tour winner ranked fifth in the world, Kang had a 13-under 129 total at Four Seasons Golf and Sports Club Orlando. Nelly Korda, at No. 4 the top-ranked player in the 25-woman field, was second at 66.
• Sung jae Im shot a 7-under 65 at The American Express at La Quinta, Calif., to take a one-stroke lead over first-round leader Brandon Hagy and four others.
Im, the 22-year-old South Korean who was the PGA Tour’s rookie of the year in 2019, had seven birdies on the Stadium Course at PGA West.
Canada’s Nick Taylor (66), South Korea’s Si Woo Kim (68), Tony Finau (66) and Abraham Ancer (65) also were 10 under.
• Jerry Kelly and Darren Clarke shared the second-round lead in the Mitsubishi Electric Championship after first-round leader Retief Goosen stumbled late at La’Upulehu-Kona, Hawaii.
Kelly had a 5-under 67 to match Clarke at 13-under 131 in the first PGA Tour Champions event of the year.