Antoine Rozner posted a stunning seven under par round of 65 to move into the lead at the DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates.

The Frenchman, who has a good record in Dubai having won the 2020 Golf in Dubai Championship presented by DP World, leads by one on nine under par with a stacked leaderboard in pursuit, including nearest challengers Tyrrell Hatton, of England, and Race to Dubai leader Rory McIlroy one shot back.

Three-time DP World Tour winner Rozner was one under through his first eight holes, before catching fire from the ninth where he reeled off a trio of birdies, before adding another three in a row from the 14th to move into the 36-hole lead for the fourth time in his DP World Tour career.

Victory for Rozner on the Earth Course could also see him climb as high as second on the Race to Dubai and secure dual membership with the PGA TOUR for 2025.

Four-time Major Champion McIlroy posted a three under par 69, which could have been one better had a closing eagle putt not slid by, to strengthen his grip on the Harry Vardon Trophy.

The 17-time DP World Tour winner was four under through seven holes of his second round and threatening to open a comprehensive lead, but bogeys at the eighth and tenth opened the door for Rozner to seize the advantage, with his closing birdie earning him a round of 69.

The Northern Irishman leads the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex and with South Africa’s Thriston Lawrence – the only man able to deny him a sixth Race to Dubai title – nine shots off the lead on level par, McIlroy is in line to be crowned European Number One for the sixth time and move alongside the legendary Seve Ballesteros.

Hatton matched playing partner McIlroy’s round of 69, bouncing back from a bogey at the fourth with birdies at the sixth, eighth, tenth and 15th to remain in the mix with two rounds to play. The Englishman has twice been a runner up in the DP World Tour Championship in 2016 and 2022 and also finished second in last week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, the first of the two events in the DP World Tour Play-Offs.

Chilean Joaquin Niemann sits in fourth place on seven under par, with Denmark’s Rasmus Højgaard, Irishman Shane Lowry and Swede Jesper Svensson all posting five under par rounds of 67 to join Japan’s Keita Nakajima in a tie for fifth on six under.

The English trio of Tommy Fleetwood, Matt Wallace and Paul Waring are a shot further back in tied ninth, with the latter continuing his quest for back-to-back Rolex Series titles after his victory at Yas Links last week.

Player quotes

Antoine Rozner: I putted really well. It’s one of those days where everything goes in, and I had a ton of fun out there. I think with my caddie we had a really good fun, it was one of those days where everything goes right and took advantage of it.

I need a really good weekend for that. I’m going to try to focus on having two solid days. See how it goes at the end. I think if I can have a chance on Sunday to either win it or get one of those cards, yeah, it would be great. I’ve been playing really well the last few months, and yeah, let’s go. Let’s take advantage of it.

Rory McIlroy: A little disappointed that I didn’t kick on after such a great start, four under through seven. I just started to miss a few fairways around the turn and not by much either but the rough is so thick, and you lose all control of your golf ball if you hit it in there.

The last few holes, they are pretty difficult. One hard thing about being in the final couple of groups is the greens start to get a bit chewed up at the end of the day. Especially with the low light you can see everything, even though you can tap stuff down, it’s still hard to trust it sometimes.

I thought I hit my tee shot in the hazard on the last so it was nice to get up there and see it dry end and up having a 20-footer for eagle. Nice way to finish and as you say, a good position going into the weekend right there.

Tyrrell Hatton: Pretty similar thing to yesterday to be honest in terms of just not feeling very comfortable. Just every shot felt like a bit of a struggle, I guess. Three under is a pretty acceptable score, all things considered.

Taking the positives from two days where I don’t feel like I’ve played the kind of golf I’m capable of, and we’re one shot off the lead going into the weekend. Hopefully I can find something and hit it a little bit better. That would make this weekend a little bit more exciting for me. I’ll go out there tomorrow and give it my best as I have done the last two days, and just hope something clicks.

Scores after round two:

135 A ROZNER (FRA) 70 65,
136 R MCILROY (NIR) 67 69, T HATTON (ENG) 67 69,
137 J NIEMANN (CHI) 70 67,
138 R HOJGAARD (DEN) 71 67, J SVENSSON (SWE) 71 67, S LOWRY (IRL) 71 67, K NAKAJIMA (JPN) 69 69,
139 T FLEETWOOD (ENG) 71 68, M WALLACE (ENG) 69 70, P WARING (ENG) 68 71,
140 R MACINTYRE (SCO) 72 68, J CAMPILLO (ESP) 71 69, A OTAEGUI (ESP) 71 69, A SCOTT (AUS) 69 71,
141 U COUSSAUD (FRA) 72 69, T MCKIBBIN (NIR) 71 70, D VAN DRIEL (NED) 70 71, B HORSCHEL (USA) 69 72, A FITZPATRICK (ENG) 69 72,
142 L CANTER (ENG) 74 68, G MIGLIOZZI (ITA) 72 70, R LANGASQUE (FRA) 71 71, N ELVIRA (ESP) 70 72, M LEE (AUS) 70 72, R HOSHINO (JPN) 69 73,
143 D BROWN (ENG) 75 68, J ROSE (ENG) 74 69, Y PAUL (GER) 73 70, J VEERMAN (USA) 71 72, S BAIRSTOW (ENG) 70 73, A MERONK (POL) 70 73, N NORGAARD (DEN) 69 74,
144 T LAWRENCE (RSA) 73 71, F LACROIX (FRA) 72 72, J SMITH (ENG) 71 73,
145 J DEAN (ENG) 77 68, M JORDAN (ENG) 75 70, T OLESEN (DEN) 70 75,
146 E FERGUSON (SCO) 72 74,
147 J GUERRIER (FRA) 76 71, A SULLIVAN (ENG) 73 74, F LAPORTA (ITA) 72 75, C SYME (SCO) 71 76, M MANASSERO (ITA) 70 77,
149 S S?DERBERG (SWE) 77 72, A HIDALGO (ESP) 74 75, D BRADBURY (ENG) 74 75,
150 D RAVETTO (FRA) 78 72,
151 A COCKERILL (CAN) 77 74,