Tiger still trailing, McDowell cards eagle
Tiger Woods carded a five-under-par 67 in the second round of the Dubai Desert Classic but was five shots behind leader Ross Fisher.
World number one Woods made a solid start as he made three successive birdies from the 13th, his fourth, before adding another on the 18th.
He struggled to pick up shots coming home and claimed just one more birdie on the eighth while making par on the rest to finish nine under.
Fisher, meanwhile, enjoyed another excellent round as he shot eight birdies and dropped just one shot on the par-four sixth.
The 26-year-old has now built a commanding lead going into the weekend and was 14 under overall, four strokes ahead of Graeme McDowell and Peter Hanson.
Northern Irishman McDowell carded an eagle on the 13th and added five birdies in an otherwise faultless round while Hanson carded a seven-under-par 65.
Ernie Els, who teed off in the afternoon, made a superb start as he shot three birdies in his first five holes and was nine under.
Miguel Angel Jimenez was also nine under after he carded a four-under 68.
Meanwhile, Paul Casey finished six under after an improved second-round display in which he claimed six birdies and just two bogeys.
Darren Clarke was also six under after improving on a slow start. The Ryder Cup star made par on his first seven holes before making a birdie on the par-five 18th, his ninth.
He then added two more birdies coming home before dropping a shot on the par-four sixth.
