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Scott battles to contend in Abu Dhabi

AAPAP
Adam Scott is five shots off the lead and still in the hunt for the Abu Dhabi Championship.
Camera IconAdam Scott is five shots off the lead and still in the hunt for the Abu Dhabi Championship. Credit: AP

Adam Scott is five shots off the lead after two rounds of the Abu Dhabi Championship after recording an impressive level par round of 72 in windswept conditions.

Australia's former Masters champion had four birdies and four bogeys in his uneven second round on Friday but it was enough to push him nearer Scottish leader Scott Jamieson, who was seven-under after shooting a second round 74.

Gusts of up to 40 mph (64 kph) off the coastline of the Persian Gulf caused havoc at Yas Links, with just five of the 93 players who completed their round shooting under par in conditions typically associated with the British Open.

It meant 41-year-old Scott moved up to joint-16th on the leaderboard and in a decent position to attack over the weekend as other big names battled to make the cut.

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Rory McIlroy rolled in a six-foot birdie putt at the last and was set to join Collin Morikawa in making it on the cut-line.

Jamieson ended the day where he started it - in the lead - despite a score that was 11 shots worse than his brilliant 63 on Thursday.

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Viktor Hovland remained in second place, still a stroke off the lead, after also shooting 74.

As for McIlroy and Morikawa, the two star names in the field, they were both three-over for the tournament and just glad to be on course to make the weekend.

McIlroy reached the 18th tee below the projected cut and on course to finish a round without a birdie for the first time since the 2017 US Open. He avoided that by getting up and down from 43 yards to shoot a 75.

"A putt can change by a cup or more. It's just really tricky," he said. "I can't remember when it's been like this here."

Morikawa, the world No. 2 and British Open champion, also made only one birdie in a round of 74.

The conditions aren't forecast to be so severe over the weekend, which will start with 38 players completing their second rounds after play was suspended because of darkness.

Scott was the only Australian to be under-par at halfway with Wade Ormsby, who's still got three holes to play in his second round, on ne-over for the tournament.

Min Woo Lee endured eight bogeys, struggling to a second round 76 to lie three-over-par, but looked set to play the weekend.

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