Lowry and Elvira share two-shot lead at halfway mark in Dubai as McIlroy struggles

The Irishman began the day three shots behind good friend and Grand Slam champion Rory McIlroy, but some stunning iron play and clutch putting saw him overhaul his playing partner.

Lowry is aiming to secure his first DP World Tour title since winning the 2022 BMW PGA Championship and he showcased his quality with five birdies and two bogeys.

Spaniard Elvira surged into contention thanks to four birdies in his final six holes for a matching 68 - the best rounds of the day - to set the clubhouse target of five under.

“Very happy. It was hard. It was tricky,” Lowry said. “If I play golf like that for the rest of the season in that frame of mind, I’ll be pretty good.

“The first tournament of the year you don’t know what to expect. So going out there in the last group now on Saturday is nice, and keep it going and we’ll see what happens.”

McIlroy regained his one-shot advantage when he birdied the third to reach six under.

That lead was briefly extended to two when Antoine Rozner's early birdie burst was offset by a double bogey, but McIlroy dropped a shot at the sixth.

A skewed chip left a difficult par putt for McIlroy to save par at the ninth and when it slid by, he was in a two-way tie for the lead at four under.

In the group ahead, Lawrence carded back-to-back birdies at the fourth and fifth - the latter with a sumptuous hole-out from the bunker - to join that mark.

Lowry opened with birdie-birdie for the second day running and despite a bogey at the fifth, he picked up the shot at the very next hole. A bogey at the ninth saw him slip back one, but he responded immediately with a lovely birdie putt at the tenth to rejoin the lead.

None of the trio could jump ahead on their own as they reached the turn, which saw Armitage increase the leadership group to four.

The Englishman, who started on the back nine, mixed two birdies and two bogeys during his front nine and then picked up shots at the second and fourth to reach the summit.

However, by the time McIlroy and Lowry finished the 14th hole, the latter was in the sole lead.

Lawrence had bogeyed the same par-three hole, Armitage dropped a shot at the ninth - his last - and McIlroy found the water at the 14th as the trio slipped back to three under.

That left Lowry on his own at the top. He was briefly joined by Elvira and McIlroy when the latter rolled in a 46-foot putt at the 16th for birdie, but Lowry followed suit from 31 feet to maintain his one-shot lead at five under.

McIlroy found the water for the fourth time at the 17th as he finished with back-to-back bogeys to sit three behind the joint leaders.

Elvira had carded three bogeys and two birdies during his first 12 holes, but his birdie blitz to complete his second round propelled into the share of the lead with Lowry.

"I feel like off the tee I hit it really well. That's something I struggled with in the past and we made a couple changes, and I think it's paying off," Elvira said.

Armitage and Spain's David Puig were tied for third at three under, while McIlroy, Lawrence, Rozner and Spain's Angel Ayora were one shot further back at two under.

American Ryggs Johnston recorded the first hole-in-one of 2026 when his aced the 218-yard par-three eighth with a six iron.