DP World Tour Championship 2016: Friday Leaderboard Scores and Highlights

Sergio Garcia and Francesco Molinari finished in a tie for the lead on nine-under par after Friday's second day of play at the 2016 DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

The pair both carded excellent rounds of 67, while Lee Westwood's bogey on the 18th saw him finish one shot back in second on eight-under. 

Defending champion and world No. 2 Rory McIlroy bounced back well from his 75 on Thursday to post a 68 on Friday, but he is still eight shots off the lead heading into the weekend.

Here's a look at the leaderboard following the second day of action at the Jumeirah Golf Estates:

#	Nat	Player	Score	Round 2
T1	ESP	Sergio Garcia	-9	67
T1	ITA	Francesco Molinari	-9	67
3	ENG	Lee Westwood	-8	70
T4	ENG	Tyrrell Hatton	-7	66
T4	NED	Joost Luiten	-7	69
T4	RSA	Charl Schwartzel	-7	67
T4	AUT	Bernd Wiesberger	-7	67
T8	BEL	Nicolas Colsaerts	-6	71
T8	ENG	Matthew Fitzpatrick	-6	69
T10	KOR	Byeong-Hun An	-5	69

For the full leaderboard, visit the European Tour website.

Recap

Westwood led on his own on six-under after Thursday's first day and continued his solid play on Friday.

It was a fine round tee-to-green from the Englishman, but he endured some frustrations with his putter as few birdie chances would drop.

He picked up shots on the the par-five second, par-five 14th and then finally holed a decent length chance for a birdie three on 16 to move level with Molinari and Garcia at the head of the leaderboard.

Unfortunately, Westwood's second shot on the par-five 18th flew into the water, and he had to settle for a bogey—his first of the day—which saw him drop one shot back from the two leaders.

Spaniard Garcia carded six birdies on Friday as he followed an opening-round 68 with an impressive 67 to go into the weekend's action firmly in contention.

Despite the shots gained at two, four, six, 11, 15 and 16, though, arguably the highlight of Garcia's round was his par save at the 12th, per the European Tour:

Molinari made an impressive late run to join Garcia at the top of the leaderboard, with birdies on 14, 15 and 16 propelling him to nine-under after he went out in 33.

Race to Dubai leader Henrik Stenson is six shots off the lead at the European Tour's season finale after he moved to three-under par with a round of 69 on Friday.

McIlroy's round on the second day was an impressive response to his Thursday woes, but he still has a lot to do if he is to successfully defend his title in Dubai.

The Northern Irishman carded six birdies in his second round and hailed an improved putting performance afterwards, per the European Tour:

While Garcia and Molinari lead the way at the midway point of the tournament, there is immense quality in the chasing pack.

One shot back from Westwood in a tie for fourth lie Tyrrell Hatton, Bernd Wiesberger, Charl Schwartzel and Joost Luiten on seven-under.

Hatton's 66 was one of the rounds of the day, and if he can produce similar form on Saturday, he will undoubtedly be in a strong position going into the final day.