Harrington six adrift of leading trio in UAE

Padraig Harrington lies six strokes adrift of the leaders at the halfway stage at the Ras Al Khaimah Championship in UAE.

Reigning Irish Open champion Adrian Meronk, Scotland's David Law and Denmark's Rasmus Hojgaard occupy a share of the lead on 11-under par at Al Hamra GC.

Law and Meronk posted 64 and 65 respectively, while Hojgaard followed his opening 66 with a 67 on Friday.

Overnight leader Ryo Hisatsune carded a two-under par round of 70 to sit one stroke back. Joining him in the cluster of players on 10-under is England's Dale Whitnell who fired nine birdies en route to the low round of the day with a 63.

Harrington's second round of 70 was soured by a closing bogey on the par-5 18th after firing into the rough with his third stroke from the greenside bunker.

FULL LEADERBOARD

It was the Dubliner's second bogey on a par-5 after earlier finding the water with his tee shot on the 3rd. In between, Harrington amassed a fine stretch, with four birdies arriving on 5, 6, 14 and 16.

The three-time major winner sits in a tie for 23rd heading into the weekend. Over the weekend, he will be seeking to show traces of the form which propelled him to a fourth placed finish at the Abu Dhabi Championship a fortnight ago.

Tom McKibbin is two strokes further back from Harrington, posting a 71 to follow his opening round 70. The 20-year old recovered from a mid-round wobble to reach the midway point at three-under.

McKibbin began with two birdies but shipped bogeys at 4, 10 and 11 to fall back to one-under, before finishing strongly with birdies at 14, 16 and 18, with a dropped stroke on 15.

The remaining members of the Irish contingent missed the cut, Gary Hurley and John Murphy both posting three over totals after 36 holes.