Matt Wallace shot a spellbinding seven under par 65 on the second day of the season-ending DP World Tour Championship to surge to the top of the leaderboard while the battle for the Race to Dubai heated up after Tommy Fleetwood’s round of five under par 67 left him three shots off the lead at eight under par.

Wallace, who is chasing his fourth European Tour title of the season, started the second round in red-hot form with back-to-back birdies on the opening two holes before picking up two more shots on the front nine to go out in 32. The Englishman continued in the same vein on the back nine by adding three more birdies to cap a terrific bogey-free round over the iconic Earth course.

“That’s up there with one of the best this year,” said the 28 year old, who is making his debut at the DP World Tour Championship. “With it being in round two, as well, it’s nice, I haven’t done that much this year, improving on the first round. I seem to play really nice the first day and just go backwards. That was nice today and hopefully more on the weekend.”

Overnight leaders Adrian Otaegui and Jordan Smith continued to impress in the emirate with both men carding rounds of four under par 68 to share second place with Danny Willett, who signed for a five under par 67, in the tenth edition of the European Tour’s grand finale.

Meanwhile, Fleetwood heaped the pressure on Race to Dubai leader Francesco Molinari with his 67 which left the Englishman tied for sixth place, just three shots off the pace. The Englishman must win the tournament and hope Molinari finishes outside the top five if he is to win the Race to Dubai, with the Italian currently occupying 27th place after a one over par 73 second round.

“Every shot seems very important, It’s just a completely different feeling to any other week of the year,” said the HSBC Abu Dhabi Championship presented by EGA winner. “They are experiences that you have to have and that you want, but every shot just like a little bit more heightened.

“The important thing yesterday was to make sure I still had a chance at the end of the day. The important thing today was the same goal. We’ve still done that, so we’ll just be happy with it.”
Patrick Reed occupies fifth place after his five under par 67 while Rory McIlroy, Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Dean Burmester join Fleetwood in a tie for sixth place.

The DP World Tour Championship continues tomorrow (Saturday) with the third round teeing off at 07:40am.