McIlroy shares lead with Hatton at season-ending World Tour Championship on European tour

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Rory McIlroy recovered from a back-nine wobble to birdie No. 18 and share the 36-hole lead at the season-ending World Tour Championship on Friday, leaving him well-placed to win a record-tying eighth Race to Dubai golf title.

McIlroy birdied four of his first 10 holes in the second round and was blemish-free until making three bogeys in a six-hole stretch from No. 12 at Jumeirah Golf Estates, which played tough because of a stiff breeze, thick rough and dry, slippery greens.

The world No. 2 regained his composure to reach the green in two at the par-5 last hole and roll in a 6-foot birdie putt for a 2-under 70, joining Tyrrell Hatton (69) on 5-under par for the week.

“Once you do start putting yourself out of position on this golf course, this set-up, these conditions, it starts to get very, very difficult,” said McIlroy, who acknowledged he began to get frustrated with the Earth course that, in his view, is playing as hard as ever after 17 trips to the venue.

“I feel like I salvaged the day a bit with that birdie.”

As well as attempting to win the tournament for a fourth time (after 2012, ‘15 and ’24), McIlroy is seeking to move past Eugenio Chacarra in the points list to secure the year-long Race to Dubai title, which crowns the No. 1 player on the European tour. That would put the Masters champion on eight for his career alongside Colin Montgomerie, who won the award when it was called the “order of merit.”

Chacarra is still in the fight, pumping both fists after chipping in from just off the green at No. 18 to complete a birdie-birdie finish and a round of 71. The Spaniard was four shots behind McIlroy and declaring: "I like how I’m hitting it.

“If I can clean up the card a little,” Chacarra added, “I like my chance on the weekend.”

Chacarra — in his rookie full season on the tour — leads McIlroy in the Race to Dubai standings by nearly 534 points. On offer this week is 2,000 points for the winner, 1,335 for second place, 752 for third place, then fewer and fewer for the minor places.

Patrick Reed was the third realistic title contender — at No. 3 in the standings — but the American looks to be out of the running after a second-round 77, featuring a back-nine 42. Reed was 8 over for the tournament.

Still just about in contention is Jon Rahm, who needs to win and for McIlroy and Chacarra to finish way down the leaderboard. Rahm, the winner in Abu Dhabi last week, shot 71 for the second straight day and was three strokes off the lead.

The sight of McIlroy and Hatton at the top of the leaderboard, and Rahm in touching distance in a tie for eighth, guarantees some star appeal over the weekend.

The best storyline might be Joost Luiten, the first-round leader from the Netherlands whose battling 73 kept him just a shot off the lead alongside Kristoffer Reitan (70) on 4 under.

Luiten is only playing in Dubai after squeezing into the 50-man field, in last spot, because of a number of withdrawals.

He had the honor of hitting the opening tee shot on Thursday, held the lead overnight by adopting what he called a “nothing to lose” approach, and now is tied for third. If he stays around there — or better — Luiten would be in line to earn one of the 10 places on next season’s PGA Tour available to European tour members who are not otherwise exempt.

That would add a happier chapter to his time at the World Tour Championship. Three years ago, he went viral here after getting three of his clubs stuck up a tree while trying to retrieve his errant golf ball.

“I’m just looking up and trying to put a score together and be happy on the golf course — as happy as I can be,” Luiten said, looking ahead to what could be a career-defining next two days. “And then we’ll see what it brings for the weekend.”

See AP’s full golf coverage here

Eugenio Chacarra of Spain reacts after playing his second shot on the third hole during the second round of the World Tour Golf Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Friday, Nov. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

Joost Luiten of the Netherlands plays his second shot on the fifth hole during the second round of the World Tour Golf Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Friday, Nov. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland reacts after playing his second shot on the second hole during the second round of the World Tour Golf Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Friday, Nov. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays his second shot on the third hole during the second round of the World Tour Golf Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Friday, Nov. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland reacts after playing his second shot on the second hole during the second round of the World Tour Golf Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Friday, Nov. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

MOSCOW (AP) — A car bombing on Friday in Moscow badly injured an adviser to Ukraine's former prime minister in the second such attack in as many days and part of a series linked to the conflict with Russia's neighbor.

The explosion struck a car driven by Sergei Zavorotnyi, who previously worked as an adviser to former Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, according to Russia's Investigative Committee. Zavorotnyi was hospitalized with injuries, the committee added.

It didn't identify possible suspects pending a criminal inquiry.

Azarov served as prime minister under Ukraine’s Moscow-friendly President Viktor Yanukovych, who was forced from office by protesters and fled to Russia in February 2014.

Azarov, who also lives in Russia, told state TV that he believes his former adviser was targeted because of his criticism of of Ukrainian authorities.

Zavorotnyi. 72, had worked as a journalist for Russia's daily Komsomolskaya Pravda before becoming Azarov's adviser. He wroted a book about Yanukovych's ouster and ran an online outlet critical of Ukrainian authorities.

Russia's REN TV channel said he was seriously injured and in a coma after the explosion.

The U.S. Senate's Select Committee on Intelligence in a report on Russia's interference in the 2016 U.S. election identified Zavorotnyi as an officer with Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service.

On Thursday, a military serviceman was killed in St. Petersburg by a bomb in his vehicle, according to the Investigative Committee. It didn’t identify the victim or say who could be behind the bombing.

The Fontanka news outlet said the victim was a colonel and a bomb in his car went off as he was driving. It claimed the bomb used for the attack had been flown over the border from Ukraine into Russia in a balloon and hidden before it was picked up and used in the attack.

The device was planted on instructions from Ukraine's spy agency by a man who had gotten a job at a grocery store near the apartment building where the victim lived, Fontanka said. It claimed that the man fled Russia immediately after the attack.

Other Russian online media said the victim of the St. Petersburg bombing was a senior air force officer.

Ukrainian authorities haven't commented on either bombing.

There have been a series of bombings and shootings in Russia that targeted people involved in the fighting in Ukraine. Moscow has blamed Kyiv for the attacks.

Kyiv has claimed responsibility for some attacks inside Russia. Ukraine’s SBU security service said in December 2024 that it had organized the killing of Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, who headed the Russian military’s nuclear, biological and chemical protection forces.

Kirillov was killed by a bomb hidden in a scooter outside his apartment building in Moscow, a day after Ukraine’s security service leveled criminal charges against him.

In August of this year, a bomb ripped through an upscale restaurant in ‌ central ⁠Moscow, killing five people, including the bomber, and injuring about 20 others in what the mayor called a “brutal terrorist act.” Russian media outlets claimed the bombing targeted Col.-Gen. Alexander Chaiko, who led the troops that made a botched attempt to storm the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv in 2022 and later was appointed the air force chief.

Later that month, the director of a Russian drone factory was badly injured and his driver was killed by a bomb planted in their car just outside Yekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains. Also in August, a military servicema n was killed and his wife was injured by a car bomb on the outskirts of St. Petersburg.

In September, a military serviceman was shot and injured in the city of Engels in Russia’s Saratov region, which is home to a major base for long-range bombers.

Law enforcement officer inspects the site of a car explosion that killed a military serviceman in St. Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026. (AP Photo)

Law enforcement officers inspect the site of a car explosion that killed a military serviceman in St. Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026. (AP Photo)

A car damaged in an explosion is seen in Moscow, Friday, Nov. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)

Law enforcement officers inspect the site where a car was damaged by an explosion in Moscow, Friday, Nov. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)

A car damaged by an explosion is seen in Moscow, Friday, Nov. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)