Tommy Fleetwood has set his sights on adding his name to the illustrious past champions of the DP World Tour Championship after putting himself firmly in contention at the halfway stage.
The Englishman is a resident of Jumeirah Golf Estates – host venue of the DP World Tour’s season-ending competition – and made full advantage of his course knowledge with a six-under-par 66 on Friday.
Fleetwood is in a five-strong group of players at nine under, two shots adrift of leader and Ryder Cup team-mate Nicolai Højgaard.
Since its inception in 2009, the DP World Tour Championship has been won by a host of European stars including Major Champions Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Matt Fitzpatrick.
Already a six-time winner on the DP World Tour, the World Number 15 is excited to be in position to contend for his third Rolex Series title over the Earth course.
“It's always great to be here,” said Fleetwood, who came into the week 26th on the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex. “This tournament is close to my heart now.
“I am just looking forward to the weekend. I always feel like it brings out great champions, so the ultimate goal is to be one of those.
“Put my name on the trophy. Halfway there, enjoy that tonight and get ready to go again tomorrow but any time you're in contention and especially at a tournament like this, like the final one of the season, it's really, really nice.”
Despite 14 birdies over the first two rounds – more than any other player in the field – Fleetwood still believes there is more he can extract from his game over the coming two days.
“Actually, felt like I played better yesterday,” he said.
“Today was the day where I felt like I scored well. Gave myself a lot of chances on the back nine. As always, you'd like one more hole when you're playing the last but overall, it is nice to get into a bit of rhythm today and see some putts drop in.
"On a day where I think scoring was probably pretty good, it was nice to be one of those."
Fleetwood will play alongside Ryder Cup team-mate Viktor Hovland in the penultimate group on Saturday, with the Norwegian another to take advantage of easier scoring conditions following overnight storms.
Hovland, who is playing for the first time since delivering 3½ points for Team Europe in Italy, shot a 66 – his best total at the event – in the second round to also sit at nine under.
“I drove it a lot better off the tee today,” the 26-year-old reflected. “Just put myself in the fairway and I was able to attack a little bit more.
“I still feel like my iron game is not as sharp as it should be. I'm hitting a lot of greens and I'm giving myself a lot of looks but the ball is going so far, it's hard to really dial in the distances.
“I am just playing really solid and chipping it good, driving it good and putting it good.“
