Guido Migliozzi produced a big finish on day two of the 2023 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship to head into the weekend tied alongside countryman Francesco Molinari at the top of the leaderboard.
The Italian duo came into this event fresh from their outstanding displays at last week's inaugural Hero Cup, where they both delivered 3.5 points and finished unbeaten as Continental Europe defeated Great Britain & Ireland 14.5-10.5 over three days of competition.
And they were on top form again on day two at Yas Links Abu Dhabi, finishing strongly to reach ten under par at the halfway stage of the first Rolex Series event of the season.
After Molinari had shot a second successive 67 in the morning courtesy of six birdies on his back nine, Migliozzi closed his second-round 69 with a hat-trick of birdies to join him at the summit.
Having started at the tenth tee, Molinari saw two early birdies wiped out as a double bogey-bogey run at the 16th and 17th threatened to stall his progress.
But he recovered with five birdies in seven holes from the first before sending his wedge shot at the ninth to within two feet to set up a guaranteed closing birdie.
Migliozzi, meanwhile, mixed one birdie with one bogey on the front nine before kick-starting his round at the 16th with a strong shot-of-the-day contender.
He pitched his approach towards the front of the green and let it run all the way to the pin at the back to give himself a tap-in birdie.
The 25-year-old then took advantage of the par-three 17th before birdieing the last from 17 feet to grab a share of the lead.
As the wind strengthened in the afternoon, no-one was able to catch the Italian pair at the top, with Jason Scrivener their nearest challenger on nine under after mixing four birdies with two bogeys in his 70.
Alexander Levy, making his return to action after 11 months out due to a back injury, is among those on eight under, with fellow Frenchman Victor Perez, Swede Alexander Björk, South African George Coetzee and Scotland's Scott Jamieson.
Play was suspended due to fading light in the evening, with only a handful of players still out on course.
Migliozzi was delighted with his finish in tricky conditions, saying: "It's been a tough day of golf.
"I started by missing a driver on one, driver on two and then made a few three-putts as well. It was not the best way to start the second day.
"But I stayed focused, I tried to stay on my game because I'm feeling great on the golf course and I was just waiting for some turning point and then I saved that beautiful par on the 15th.
"Then after that I felt a bit better and I could accelerate, push on the accelerator and then beautiful golf shots came on the final three holes.
"Today those three holes are pretty, pretty tough because the wind is hurting a lot. It was good to finish like that."
Migliozzi is excited to do battle with Molinari, who captained him at the Hero Cup, over the weekend.
He added: "I was watching the leaderboard and I saw the Captain right there on top, Francesco Molinari. It's good; it will be a great battle over the weekend."
Molinari reflected on a good day's work, saying: "I'm very pleased. Same score as yesterday but very different day.
"Many more up-and-downs than yesterday. A couple of three-putts, a couple of mental errors but also lots of good stuff, a couple of long putts made. So a bit of everything.
"Obviously a very good back nine, which is nice. I think where you are, where I'm at at the moment, when you go through a tough patch, it's nice to see that I can pick it up again."
