{"id":2038,"section":"sports","section_label":"Sports","url":"https://www.brokenews.co/sports/2038","headline":"McIlroy two back of Rahm heading into Abu Dhabi final round","dek":"A quadruple bogey and a two-stroke penalty have kept McIlroy from running away with it despite 25 birdies on the week.","body":"Rory McIlroy will start the final round of the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship two strokes behind leader Jon Rahm, undone less by bad golf than by a few spectacular blow-ups mixed in with the good stuff.\n\nThe numbers tell the story. McIlroy has made 25 birdies at Yas Links this week, including 11 in Friday's second round, when he shot a 9-under 63. That round made personal history for him. But he has also carded a quadruple bogey, a double bogey and three bogeys, the kind of scorecard that turns a potential runaway into a one-shot deficit on the leaderboard behind Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton.\n\nSome of the damage was out of his hands. During Thursday's opening round, McIlroy was hit with a two-stroke penalty after officials ruled he had inadvertently improved his lie in the rough on the 12th hole, a harsh break given how well he has otherwise played.\n\nEven with the setbacks, McIlroy heads into Sunday with a real chance at the title, the 22nd DP World Tour event he could add to his résumé. He will simply need a cleaner round, and a bit of help from the players ahead of him, to close the two-shot gap on Rahm.","published_at":"2026-11-07T18:07:21.273413+00:00","source_count":3,"written_from":[{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Rory McIlroy confirms what he will now have to do in order to win in Abu Dhabi on Sunday","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/rory-mcilroy-confirms-now-order-150058446.html"},{"outlet":"CBS Sports","publisher":"CBS Sports","title":"Rory McIlroy shoots 63 as he trails Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton through 36 holes at the Abu Dhabi Championship","url":"https://www.cbssports.com/golf/news/abu-dhabi-championship-2026-leaderboard-rory-mcilroy-jon-rahm-tyrrell-hatton/"},{"outlet":"ESPN","publisher":"ESPN","title":"McIlroy makes 11 birdies, one shot off lead in Abu Dhabi","url":"https://www.espn.com/golf/story/_/id/50399298/rory-mcilroy-makes-11-birdies-one-shot-lead-abu-dhabi"}],"more_coverage":[{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Rory McIlroy rues double-bogey as Jon Rahm leads heading into final round in Abu Dhabi","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/rory-mcilroy-rues-double-bogey-152211412.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Rahm Takes Lead As McIlroy Chases Redemption In Abu Dhabi","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/rahm-takes-lead-mcilroy-chases-174658011.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"How far back is Rory McIlroy at Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship ahead of Sunday?","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/far-back-rory-mcilroy-abu-192753380.html"}],"image":{"url":"https://s.yimg.com/lo/mysterio/api/fffbb133b784e1355604d181b201128b095122625756366b7b8bdbd3897e954a/lightyear_networkapi/resizefill_w1200_h675%3Bquality_80%3Bformat_webp/https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.zenfs.com%2Fen%2Fhitc_articles_832%2F95963ccf19ef913ad42b7f1dc22d0071.jpg","credit":"Yahoo Sports","width":1200},"embed":null,"license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","attribution":"Analysis data is licensed CC BY 4.0. Credit brokenews and link to the story page you took it from. Source headlines, story titles taken from a source headline, and quoted passages remain the property of their publishers and are quoted for comparison, not licensed onward.","terms":"https://www.brokenews.co/about#reuse"}