A relative surprise tops a star-studded leaderboard at the 2024 DP World Tour Championship through two rounds of action at the Earth Course at Jumeirah Estates. Antoine Rozner finds his name one clear of Rory McIlroy and Tyrrell Hatton and two clear of Joaquin Niemann after a second-round 65 catapulted him to 9 under for the tournament.

McIlroy held a lead of 1,785.02 points at the top of the rankings in the Race to Dubai, with 2,000 points available to this week’s winner. The four-time major champion won the 2024 Race to Dubai by finishing higher than 11th place than sold challenger Thriston Lawrence.

Showing off a revamped backswing he spent weeks working on, McIlroy kept his misses to a minimum in posting an opening-round 67 and is tied for the lead after the first day of the event with Tyrrell Hatton at 5 under.