Defending champion Rozner leads in Dubai

Defending champion Antoine Rozner posted six birdies in the final eight holes of his second round to take a one shot lead at the halfway mark of the AVIV Dubai Championship on fifteen-under-par.

The Frenchman birdied the first and seventh holes on his front nine and picked up another on the 11th, but his round really gathered momentum with four consecutive birdies from the 13th before he closed out with an eighth of the day on the 18th for an eight-under round of 64.
That followed his opening 65 and means the 28-year-old is now forty-under-par for his six rounds on the Fire Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates after claiming his maiden European Tour title with a winning total of twenty-five-under-par last year.
“I think I was playing really well, even on the front nine – a few putts didn’t drop. I just kept putting myself in good positions hole after hole and a few putts dropped on the back nine which was great,"said Rozner.
"It was definitely one of my best ball-striking rounds out here between this year and last year."
Rozner holds a one stroke advantage over Italy’s Francesco Laporta, who also posted a bogey-free 64, and first round leader Joachim B. Hansen of Denmark, who signed for a round of 67.
Finland’s Kalle Samooja also produced an impressive scoring run, firing six consecutive birdies on his back nine of 29 in a round of 64 to sit in third position on thirteen-under-par.

Ryder Cup player Tommy Fleetwood is a further shot back after back-to-back rounds of 66, with the Englishman staying patient after a slow start, which included a dropped shot on the second, to move up the leaderboard with seven birdies in his final 12 holes. He shares fifth position with fellow Englishman Paul Waring whose 67 featured eight birdies, one bogey and a double-bogey on the 13th after losing his ball.