ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Rory McIlroy rebounded from his first-round penalty controversy by making 11 birdies and shooting 9-under 63 at the Abu Dhabi Championship on Friday.
The Masters champion was 11-under overall after two rounds as play continued at Yas Links.
“The course is very gettable today, there’s not a lot of wind. A lot of opportunities,” McIlroy said. “I would say I’ll be at least two or three behind going into tomorrow. But it’s still in a much better position than I thought I would be.”
On Thursday, McIlroy was handed a two-shot penalty after his first round when officials ruled he had improved his lie on a hole where he made double-bogey. He posted a 2-under 70 to be eight shots off the lead, held by Francesco Laporta.
“Before I left the course, I made peace with it. I didn’t dwell on it,” McIlroy said Friday. “I’d much rather be two shots worse off than be called a cheat. At least I went out today (and) it wasn’t playing on my mind. I had a clear conscience and I could just go and play.”
The Northern Irishman's second round started with a bogey but he made three birdies through the next six holes before five straight birdies from No. 9.
McIlroy's second bogey — on the 14th — was followed by three birdies on the final four holes.
“I did everything well. I drove the ball well. I hit my irons well. I putted a little bit better,” he said. “I saw a few more putts go in, which is something that I haven't been seeing for the last couple months.”
He said he worked on his putting last week with Brad Faxon.
The two-week postseason playoffs on the European tour began with the 224th-ranked Laporta shooting 10 under to take a three-stroke lead over three players — including fellow Spaniard Jon Rahm.
See AP’s full golf coverage here
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays his third shot on the 7th hole during the second round of Abu Dhabi Golf Championship in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays his second shot on the 7th hole during the second round of Abu Dhabi Golf Championship in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his government is seeking specific guarantees from Western allies on how post-war security support would function when the nearly five-year war sparked by Russia's full-scale invasion of his nation finally ends.
Zelenskyy's comments in an interview aired late Thursday followed two days of discussions among allies in Brussels that focused on postwar security and reconstruction. They also came before planned three-way talks next week in Abu Dhabi between Ukraine, Russia and the United States, the first trilateral peace discussions since February.
While talks on the contours of peace continue, the grim reality of war remained front and center Friday in Ukraine, with more Russian drone attacks and a rising death toll from Moscow's guided bomb strike Monday on a former school operating as a humanitarian aid distribution center.
Two days of talks in Brussels discussed postwar reconstruction, funding for 2027 and security guarantees backed by the Ukrainian government’s Western allies. The meetings brought together officials from the U.S., U.K., France, Germany and the European Union, along with representatives from the World Bank and the U.S. investment group BlackRock, Ukrainian lead negotiator Rustem Umerov wrote in an online post.
“We separately discussed the threats from Russia to Ukraine and all of Europe, as well as joint steps to counter them,” Umerov wrote.
In his television interview, Zelenskyy said he wanted to see tangible results.
“What matters is that it’s clear on paper,” Zelenskyy said in an interview with Ukraine’s private 1+1 television broadcast late Thursday. “The question isn’t dozens of points, but simply an understanding of the outcome: If Russia starts (attacking) again, what will happen? Who will do what, with what means, and when?”
Zelenskyy said it was important to maintain bipartisan support for Kyiv in the United States but acknowledged Democrats’ sweeping victories in this week’s midterm elections could have a positive effect on U.S. assistance, including the faster delivery of Patriot missile interceptors that Kyiv says are vital to fend off Russian airstrikes.
“I believe our chances of getting additional assistance from the United States may now grow,” he said.
President Donald Trump met Thursday with Moscow envoy Kirill Dmitriev but declined to give details of what they discussed.
“There’s going to be an agreement, it’s going to be a big agreement and it’s going to involve more than Ukraine,” Trump said, adding that it might include all of Europe.
Trump, who has long boasted he could quickly broker an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine, has lately blamed Zelenskyy for refusing to make concessions to end the conflict. Trump did not meet Thursday with visiting Ukrainian officials who also were on hand for a ceremony in Washington with first lady Melania Trump.
Trump's son-in-law and envoy Jared Kushner said in a social media message that the goal of the Brussels talks was to “develop practical arrangements that address the security concerns of all sides, reduce the risk of future conflict and create a more stable and predictable security environment.”
The European Union played down expectations for an agreement anytime soon.
“We look forward to seeing it materialize, but there’s a lot of work that needs to go into it,” European Commission spokesperson Paula Pinho said. The commission hosted the first day of talks Wednesday at its Brussels headquarters.
“Above all, there needs to be a willingness on the side of the one who first started the war, the one who aggressed,” she told reporters, in a reference to Russia. “There’s a very long way to go there because we haven’t seen much movement on that side.”
Pinho welcomed the resumption of talks and what appeared to be “full engagement” on all sides.
The Kremlin on Friday did not comment on Trump’s remarks about a possible deal.
“There are no details,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Peskov said Russia had received no ideas from Europe on security guarantees, but added that any discussion of security between Russia and Ukraine would at some point be “impossible” without Europe’s involvement.
The Kremlin spokesman accused the European side of “persistent indecisiveness and a lack of readiness,” adding that European leaders “haven’t even managed to decide who is authorized to speak on their behalf.”
The death toll from a Russian bomb attack this week on a shelter and a former school now being used as an aid distribution center rose to 53 after more bodies were recovered from the rubble, Mykhailo Semikin, acting head of the region’s military administration, said in an online post.
Ten powerful guided bombs destroyed the facility at Komyshuvakha, a village in southeast Ukraine. Several dozen people are still believed to be missing after what was one of the deadliest attacks in the region in nearly five years of fighting.
Russian drones struck five districts of Ukraine's eastern Dnipropetrovsk region more than 10 times overnight, regional administrator Oleksandr Hanzha said. They damaged storage facilities, homes, cars and a sports complex.
Officials in the central Kirovohrad region said three people were wounded when a drone struck a private residence and started a fire.
Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 227 attack drones, including 86 jet-powered ones, with strikes reported at 14 locations and falling debris at eight more. Overall, Ukraine’s air defenses shot down or suppressed 196 Russian drones overnight into Friday.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense said Friday that it shot down 142 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Associated Press writers Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands; Elise Morton in London; Lorne Cook in Brussels and Farnoush Amiri in New York contributed.
Davyd Arakhamia, lawmaker with President Zelenskyy's Servant of the People's party, second left, and Russian Presidential Envoy Kirill Dmitriev, right, hold letters written by first lady Melania Trump to their respective presidents during a meeting with the first lady and Russian and Ukrainian representatives in the Grand Foyer of the White House, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attends the second and final day of the 30th Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
In this photo provided by Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade press service, an Orthodox Christian monastery is damaged following Russian aerial guided bomb strikes that killed at least 43 in Komyshuvakha, Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026. (Andriy Andriyenko/Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade via AP)
