Rory McIlroy holes out from 73 yards for eagle as he takes Abu Dhabi lead

Rory McIlroy takes a one-stroke lead over Tyrrell Hatton with 18 holes to go at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship...

Andy Roberts's picture
Sat, 23 Jan 2021
Rory McIlroy holes out from 73 yards for eagle as he takes Abu Dhabi lead

Rory McIlroy made a stunning eagle from 73 yards out the rough on the par-5 10th hole en route to taking a narrow one-stroke lead with 18 holes to play at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

McIlroy, 31, went on to card a solid 5-under 67 to reach 13-under par for the tournament and move one stroke clear of Tyrrell Hatton, who could only manage a 1-under 71. WATCH McIlroy's moment of magic on the par-5 10th hole in the video below:

 

 

The Northern Irishman may have 14 European Tour titles to his name but he has not won on the circuit since landing the WGC-HSBC Champions in November 2019. 

Tommy Fleetwood, who was 3-over par after his first nine holes on Thursday, has raced into contention since and finds himself in solo third on 11-under after matching McIlroy's round of 67. Fleetwood is incredibly bidding to win this tournament for a third time since 2017.

 

 

Marc Warren and David Lipsky lie a further stroke back on 10-under par following rounds of 68, while Rafa Cabrera-Bello fell back to 9-under par after a disappointing 73. 

While McIlroy's eagle hole-out was impressive at the 10th, arguably the shot of the day came courtesy of Alex Levy when he made a hole-in-one at the par-3 15th. He also won a new BMW in the process.

WATCH Levy's incredible ace below, and make sure you stay for the celebration: