McIlroy finds water four times to slip from Dubai Invitational lead

[p]The reigning Masters champion found the water four times on a tough day as he made only two birdies, following on from his fine first-round 66 on Thursday.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mcilroy-rory/djwanksN/"]McIlroy[/a], 36, is targeting his eighth professional title in Dubai after four Dubai Desert Classic victories and three wins in the European Tour's Tour Championship.[/p][p]But now with the Northern Irishman on two-under at the halfway point, Republic of Ireland's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lowry-shane/pAUj2FN5/"]Shane Lowry[/a] and Spaniard [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/elvira-nacho/GICOA6qE/"]Nacho Elvira[/a] sit joint-first, three shots ahead of him.[/p][embed guid="fc5f5372-a34c-45ab-888a-d28e26b2a936" url="https://x.com/DPWorldTour/status/2012185576242655718?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]The duo both posted rounds of 68 - the lowest of the day - to surge into the lead, with Spain's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/puig-david/lSJ7OmRR/"]David Puig[/a] and England's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/armitage-marcus/jwdy9qG7/"]Marcus Armitage[/a] two shots back in joint-second.[/p][p][b]"Very happy. It was hard. It was tricky,"[/b] Lowry said.[/p][p][b]"If I play golf like that for the rest of the season in that frame of mind, I'll be pretty good."[/b][/p][p]On a windy day at Dubai Creek, eagles were at a premium, however, American [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/johnston-ryggs/j1iGwLsH/"]Ryggs Johnston[/a] overcame the conditions to sink a hole-in-one at the 218-yard par three eighth hole.[/p]