Dubai Invitational - Day two digest

Everything you need to know from the second day in Dubai.

Rory McIlroy dug deep, Jeff Winther was in party mode and while Pablo Larrazábal was not happy, a car park attendant more than made up for it in round two of the Dubai Invitational.

Here is everything you need to know from Friday at Dubai Creek Resort.

Battling McIlroy stays in front

McIlroy overcame windy conditions and a quadruple-bogey to keep hold of his two-shot lead heading into the weekend. The World Number Two had dominated the first day in the desert, carding a bogey-free 62 to begin the defence of his Race to Dubai title. He would not have it all his own way in round two, however, going from four ahead to a four-way tie at the top after finding the water twice at the eighth. But he is not a four-time Major Champion for nothing and three birdies on the back nine saw him sign for a 70 and lead the way from German Yannik Paul and Dane Jeff Winther at ten under. "I think if I look at the other 17 holes that I played, I played very, very well again," he said. "I felt like I did well just to get my head back into it and play some solid golf on the way in."

Winther keeps the party going

They say beware the injured golfer - is a hangover an injury? Jeff Winther revealed after a 66 that moved him to eight under that he had only just recovered from his wife's 40th a week ago. Whatever works for you, Jeff - he's only dropped one shot so far this week. "I'm surprised," he said. "I haven't played since Mauritius. First ball I hit was here on Monday. Quite hungover, so I'm very, very pleased. Came from a massive 40th - my wife just turned 40. So we had a massive party on Friday and I didn't feel well until Wednesday."

Host with the most

In the team event, host Abdulla Al Naboodah led the way by two shots after contributing three birdies and a par in a 67 alongside Pablo Larrazábal. He made an eagle and two birdies alongside McIlroy on day one and will play with the Northern Irishman again in the final team round on Saturday. "It was awesome," he said. "The first couple of days have been amazing, playing with Rory, playing with Pablo who are both friends, it's been amazing."

One of us! One of us!

There are few things better than when a golfer is relatable - and it's almost perfect when they are a multiple Major winner. Admittedly, we don't usually get the same results when we thin our shots, but still.........

A cruel game

When a ball hits the pin and doesn't drop, it often goes into the category where you can't decide whether it was lucky or unlucky. Well this was definitely unlucky for Larrazábal.

Love your work

Being a professional golfer would be a dream job for a lot of people - for this guy, the dream job is car park attendant. It's great to love what you do.