Day two digest: Ras Al Khaimah Championship presented by Phoenix Capital

Everything you need to know from day two at Al Hamra Golf Club.

David laid down the Law, Nicolai put on a show, Adrian putt on a show and Paddy shared some stories on the second day of the 2022 Ras Al Khaimah Championship presented by Phoenix Capital.

Here is everything you need to know from Friday in the desert.

Law goes low to lead the way

David Law matched the lowest round of his DP World Tour career as he opened up a two-shot lead heading into the weekend. The Scot chipped in twice for eagle en route to a 64 that took him to 14 under, two shots ahead of Dane Nicolai Højgaard. Law won his maiden title at the 2019 ISPS Handa Vic Open and after registering two further top tens since then, he feels he is gradually improving as he plots his route back to the winner's circle. "I feel like my golf has progressed nicely in the last three years and that’s the main aim, that’s all anyone’s trying to do - to keep improving," he said. “I feel like I’ve done that and it’s about giving myself opportunities. It’s not about putting pressure on myself to go and win again or anything like that. If I keep knocking on the door and giving myself chances, I’ll hopefully win one of them."

Twin it to win it

Yesterday, Rasmus Højgaard topped a shot to ten feet to produce one of the recoveries of the day. On Friday, it was Nicolai's turn to get out of trouble but his contact was perfect. What a shot.

And it wasn't just the short game that was impressing.

Adrian putts it all together

"Yesterday I holed some good putts and today I holed some very good putts as well but I think the biggest difference was the driving and I felt a lot more comfortable with the driving today," said Adrian Otaegui after breaking the course record with a 63. He may have felt most comfortable with the big sticks but he holed 131 feet of putts on Friday and led the field in strokes gained on the green. Put those two together and you'll take some beating.

What puts the greats under pressure?

With three Major wins, there is no doubt Pádraig Harrington is one of the best players of his generation but he is also one of the game's great thinkers and communicators. In his on-course interview on Friday, he gave an insight into when he's truly felt the pressure on the course. "First shot in the Ryder Cup," he said. "First shot in the Walker Cup to be honest if you want to go back that far. Both times I literally physically had to tell myself to hit it. You talk about routines and things like that - you might be standing over the ball for half a second but it feels like a lifetime and you have to pull the trigger. In an ideal situation that would be all fluid and routine but the good thing for me is, and this does help when it comes to pressure, both of those shots were two of my best shots." It's always great to talk to Paddy.

Brandon making them sweat

After his bogey-free 66 on day one, Brandon Stone told us his trainer Gavin owed him a "1,000-calorie workout". On day two, he elaborated. "Every time I would miss a cut, we would have a workout on Friday afternoon to punish ourselves for the poor golf where we would have to go into the gym and the only way you can leave the gym is after you've burnt 1,000 calories. I thought that was a little bit harsh as there are no ways that I can get back at him so then I went 'cool, but for every bogey-free round I have, you have to do it'." Gavin may have been relieved when the South African dropped his first shot of the week on the 11th.

Credit where it's dew

We have some incredibly talented photographers lining the fairways on the DP World Tour and sometimes a picture really can paint a thousand words. This one shows you just how much dew we get first thing here in the desert. We're normally using this phrase in a different context but - what a shot.