Rory McIlroy labelled 'clearly lucky' after incredible duff shot

Even Rory McIlroy's bad shots turn into something special. The Northern Ireland man proved it with a duff shot that almost resulted in a stunning eagle at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

McIlroy is competing in the DP Tour event at Yas Links in the UAE. He was in second round action on Friday and steadily climbing the leaderboard, and it's no surprise when even his poor shots almost sail into the hole.

The 35-year-old produced one such shot at the Par 4 ninth. He didn't seem to connect properly with his second shot, but the ball took a bounce onto the green and stopped inches from the cup.

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McIlroy look bemused at the duffed shot, while Sky Sports pundit Wayne Riley joked that the Holywood native was "clearly lucky".

He said: "That's why he's won all this money and is a billionaire. He's clearly lucky."

McIlroy posted a second round of five under par to reach the halfway stage at -10, nine shots off clubhouse leader Paul Waring on -19.

It should have been a better day for McIlrtoy who carded an impressive eight birdies - including four on the front nine and another four on the back stretch.

A triple bogey six at the 17th took some gloss of his card, and leaves McIlroy with a sizeable deficit to claw back over the weekend.

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