Joshua Berry surged ahead in the UAE Challenge, clinching a two-stroke lead after a remarkable four-under-par round of 68 at Saadiyat Beach Golf Club.
Starting the day sharing the lead, the Englishman dazzled with seven birdies in his opening 11 holes, asserting dominance over the field.
Despite a late stumble with three dropped strokes in the final stretch, Berry finished the day on a commendable 11-under-par, maintaining a two-shot advantage over competitors Wilco Nienaber from South Africa and Dane Hamish Brown.
The 18-year-old, who transitioned to the professional circuit just over six months ago following his success at the DP World Tour Qualifying School, expressed delight at his performance over the initial two days.
“I’m really happy,” he exclaimed. “If you’d told me at the start of the day that I was going to shoot four under on the back of yesterday, I’d have taken it.”
Berry attributed his success to his solid tee-to-green game, emphasizing his consistency throughout the week.
Reflecting on his strategy for the upcoming rounds, he stated, “Tomorrow, I’ll just go and do the same things but try to finish the round off a little bit better than I did today.”
Despite his commanding lead at one point during the second day, Berry acknowledged the challenging conditions faced by players at Saadiyat Beach.
“This afternoon was different and you had holes downwind and into the wind,” he remarked.
“It’s quite firm out there, so you can hit good drives into bunkers, and then if you get a bad lie it’s quite tough.”
Frenchman Alexander Levy surged into fourth place with a second consecutive round of 68, while Swiss Benjamin Rusch, Dane Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, and Northern Irishman Dermot McElroy shared the fifth spot on seven under par.
Notably, seven players trailed closely in eighth place, including Spaniard Javier Sainz, Dutchman Kiet van der Weele, and Finn Tapio Pulkkanen.
As anticipation builds for the third round, scheduled to commence at 7:30 am local time, all eyes will be on Berry as he tees off alongside Nienaber and Brown at 9:30 am.
Scores after round 2
133 J BERRY (ENG) 65 68,
135 H BROWN (DEN) 69 66, W NIENABER (RSA) 65 70,
136 A LEVY (FRA) 68 68,
137 D MCELROY (NIR) 69 68, R NEERGAARD-PETERSEN (DEN) 65 72, B RUSCH (SUI) 67 70,
138 J SAINZ (ESP) 70 68, C MCKINNEY (AUS) 69 69, D HORSEY (ENG) 70 68, M WARREN (SCO) 71 67, K VAN DER WEELE (NED) 69 69, J AXELSEN (DEN) 68 70, T PULKKANEN (FIN) 68 70,
139 P PINEAU (FRA) 71 68, N VON DELLINGSHAUSEN (GER) 71 68, K BROBERG (SWE) 69 70, B FOLLETT-SMITH (ZIM) 70 69, C BRING (DEN) 69 70, C PAISLEY (ENG) 72 67,
140 J DAVIDSON (WAL) 70 70, R ROUSSEL (FRA) 73 67, J CATLIN (USA) 71 69, M COUVRA (FRA) 72 68, P SAGOO (ENG) 70 70, B BAWDEN (ENG) 72 68, F MORY (FRA) 68 72, C PURCELL (IRL) 69 71, C BERARDO (FRA) 68 72, M HAMMER (GER) 71 69, S BROWN (ENG) 69 71,
141 C WOOD (ENG) 71 70, O LINDELL (FIN) 70 71, R ENOCH (WAL) 71 70, G STAL (FRA) 70 71, S MAZZOLI (ITA) 72 69, J LEE (USA) 72 69, A HALVORSEN (NOR) 71 70, G PORTEOUS (ENG) 69 72, F KENNEDY (ENG) 71 70, H MAGNUS (ISL) 69 72,
142 V VAN VEEN (NED) 67 75, ? ?TIRN (SLO) 71 71, W BESSELING (NED) 67 75, R KLEU (SUI) 74 68, A AYORA (ESP) 73 69, B ROBINSON THOMPSON (ENG) 73 69, P KATICH (GER) 71 71, J WALTERS (RSA) 71 71, B HEBERT (FRA) 71 71, G HURLEY (IRL) 72 70, O CRAIG (AM) (ENG) 69 73, G KRISTJANSSON (ISL) 76 66, J MOSCATEL (ESP) 71 71, N LEMKE (SWE) 71 71, J STALTER (FRA) 71 71,
143 B VIRTO (ESP) 70 73, D GERMISHUYS (RSA) 72 71, J PARRY (ENG) 73 70, R KARLBERG (SWE) 71 72, N KRISTENSEN (DEN) 73 70, M LINDBERG (SWE) 69 74, C KNIPES (ENG) 71 72,
144 J YULE (ENG) 73 71, J FLOYDD (ENG) 72 72, C BRAEUNIG (GER) 73 71, R SANTOS (POR) 71 73, L VAN MEIJEL (NED) 73 71, R WATTEL (FRA) 72 72, O HUNDEB?LL (DEN) 74 70, J MURPHY (IRL) 71 73, P L?NGFORS (SWE) 74 70, J RUTHERFORD (ENG) 69 75, A CHESTERS (ENG) 70 74,
145 P FIGUEIREDO (POR) 72 73, J MCDONALD (SCO) 75 70, J HANSEN (DEN) 71 74, L RUUSKA (FIN) 73 72, D RAVETTO (FRA) 75 70, J LAGERGREN (SWE) 74 71, J SALE (FRA) 70 75, G BOURDY (FRA) 71 74, O GUILLAMOUNDEGUY (FRA) 74 71, J DE BRUYN (GER) 75 70,
146 J FREIBURGHAUS (SUI) 75 71, B GILL (ENG) 70 76, T GOUVEIA (POR) 77 69, G DE LEO (ITA) 73 73, O FARR (WAL) 74 72, D FOOS (GER) 73 73, G MASON (ENG) 76 70, Q VIDAL (ESP) 73 73, V PASTOR (ESP) 71 75, J ANDERSEN (DEN) 70 76, J SENEKAL (RSA) 73 73, A WILSON (ENG) 70 76, E WALKER (SCO) 67 79, O BEKKER (RSA) 69 77,
147 M POWER (IRL) 71 76, C HOWIE (SCO) 76 71, L VACARISAS (ESP) 75 72, R SCIOT-SIEGRIST (FRA) 71 76, D VAN TONDER (RSA) 71 76, T THURLOWAY (ENG) 78 69, A ID OMAR (MAR) 73 74, C BLOMSTRAND (SWE) 73 74, J DEAN (ENG) 70 77, S HUTSBY (ENG) 74 73, R MCEVOY (ENG) 72 75, A DE BONDT (BEL) 75 72, J GRENVILLE-WOOD (UAE) 69 78, S BROHOLT LIND (DEN) 72 75, M GIBOUDOT (FRA) 73 74,
148 A ZEMMER (ITA) 79 69, D YOUNG (SCO) 72 76, J CALDWELL (NIR) 77 71, T TREE (ENG) 74 74,
149 T VAHLENKAMP (GER) 74 75, V BJORLOW (DEN) 75 74, M SCHMITT (GER) 74 75, L SLATTERY (ENG) 71 78, G BOYD (ENG) 77 72, L KEUNEN (NED) 73 76, A CA?IZARES (ESP) 75 74, P BOVARI (ITA) 74 75,
150 G BLOOR (ENG) 75 75, I ABOU EL ELA (AM) (EGY) 74 76, K ATTIEH (AM) (KSA) 72 78,
151 J G?TH-RASMUSSEN (DEN) 78 73, J ALLAN (ENG) 77 74, J SELVARAJ (AM) (UAE) 79 72, A BOASSON (ISL) 75 76, B EASTON (RSA) 76 75, B ?KESSON (SWE) 78 73,
152 H HOPEWELL (AUS) 77 75, S MUKHERJEE (AM) (SCO) 76 76, A ETCHENIQUE (FRA) 77 75, A SKAIK (AM) (UAE) 78 74, W DE VRIES (NED) 69 83,
153 R MULLARNEY (IRL) 75 78, R THOMPSON (ENG) 77 76, O RAOUZI (MAR) 80 73, S DAHMANE (AM) (MAR) 74 79, T POWER HORAN (AUS) 77 76, S MULLANE (AM) (UAE) 80 73,
154 D MOSTERT (RSA) 76 78, T STEPHENSON (AM) (ENG) 77 77,
155 C GUICHARD (FRA) 79 76,
156 S AL KURDI (JOR) 76 80, M STEWART (SCO) 79 77,
159 C LINDH (SWE) 74 85,
160 A PLANT (ENG) 82 78, A VENTER (RSA) 81 79,
171 A AL MUSHARREKH (UAE) 84 87,
**
OUT A QUIROS (ESP) 70 RT, R GULATI (AM) (IND) DQ ,
