A few years ago I'd have banked on Matt Fitzpatrick holing from six feet and in. The Englishman is on the 10th, with a putt of about that distance to get to within one of the lead.

But that's a real stabby effort that dribbles off to the right. He knows that was a huge opportunity and he trudges off the green, dragging his putter along the grass.

Rory McIlroy is looking a little anxiously after his ball after launching his drive off the par-four 10th tee.

And with good reason. His ball disappears into some trees down the right. It drops and hops forward, right behind a trunk. Be interesting to see what line of approach he has to the green from there.

-17 McIlroy

-16 Canter, Aberg

-15 Rose, Fitzpatrick

-14 Li, Fleetwood, Ayora

-13 MacIntyre, Hatton

Ludvig Aberg is hacking his way down the 12th a bit. Wayward off the tee, his second is also to the right, missing the green. But the Swede produces a bit of magic with his wedge, holing from 38 yards for a ridiculous birdie.

He's now one back.

Can Rory McIlroy respond on the ninth? No... his birdie putt doesn't threaten the hole.

This could be some back nine...

Laurie Canter. Take a bow. What a putt. On the 11th, opts to putt through about five yards of fringe grass. It looks like he's not given that enough to get on the green, but it tumbles on and then gathers pace as it tracks towards the hole... and in!

Sensational putt. He's one back of Rory.

And here's Tommy Fleetwood, from about 20 feet, drained. Back-to-back and he's suddenly in the hunt.

Matt Fitzpatrick is stalking a 20-footer for birdie that would round off a superb opening nine holes. But not this time for the Englishman, whose ball goes close but not close enough.

Still, two adrift heading into the back nine means he's right in this.

Rory McIlroy is unable to hole his bendy left-to-righter on the eighth, so has to settle for par.

Rasmys Neergaard-Petersen is dropping again though. His third, from the rough, short of the green, hopped up to within eight feet but his par putt lipped out.

On the 11th and Justin Rose and Ludvig Aberg have both set themselves up with great birdie opportunities. Both players are inside 12 feet after two shots.

Rose up first but he again leaves his ball on the dancefloor. Can Aberg hole his? No. Lip out. Big chances to move within one missed.

Laurie Canter has a chance to amend for that bogey at the eighth but a 10-footer at the 10th is pulled left.

His playing partner Tommy Fleetwood drains his though to get under par for the round. A big back nine needed though.

"Sit, sit." Rory McIlroy is talking to his ball on the eighth. From 149 yards he wants to be going in close.

It's a slight pull but his ball does indeed sit and finishes pin high, 25 feet from the hole. A grimace from Rory. Not what he wanted.

Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen is back in trouble though, scuffing his second from an area covered in bark chippings, and looking on in frustration as it holds up in the rough, well short of the green.

Ludvig Aberg and Justin Rose are pushing each other in their pairing.

The Swede is the one that profits on the 10th, with a birdie, while Rose's effort stays on the green this time. They are locked together, two behind our leader.

Rory McIlroy tugged his second on the seventh to the left of the green but he had loads of green to work with, and hit a little chip and run that was tracking superbly, but needed to hit the flag.

The ball rolled a good eight, 10 feet past the hole. But Rory is dialled in on the greens and from nowhere, the Northern Irishman leads by two.

"That might be the best four I've ever made," laughs Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen after slam-dunking a 99-yard wedge shot on the par-five seventh!

You may recall he'd been in bother off the tee and he was looking to just get his ball close enough to escape with a par on the seventh, but he only went and holed it - straight in the cup too.

Matt Fitzpatrick was unable to take advantage of the par-five seventh, just carding a par after duffing a shot down the fairway.

The observant among you will see that Rory is now out on his own at the top of the leaderboard.

That's because Laurie Canter has had an ugly three-putt bogey from 20 feet on the eighth, missing a two-footer for par.

-16 McIlroy

-15 Rose, Canter, Fitzpatrick

-14 Aberg, Ayora

-13 MacIntyre, R Hojgaard

A word from Marco Penge on a week that promised much but was derailed by illness.

"It's been the year of my life, to have won three times and be in contention as much as I have, I feel proud," he said on Sky Sports.

"This week was disrupted and I didn't get off to the start I wanted on Thursday. But as soon as I got off the meds I was proud of how I fought back this week."

On moving to the PGA Tour next season, he added: "I'm looking forward to playing big events on that side of the pond.

"I'll miss the players and staff and tour in general but hopefully I'll be playing as much as I can on the DP World Tour as I can."

Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen hollers "fore" almost as soon as the ball leaves the bat. The Dane is struggling a bit out there today and his tee shot on the seventh has gone way left. A thumbs up tells him the ball is in bounds.

He's in Li Haotong country though - and the Chinese carded a seven about an hour ago.

Big par-saver for Rory McIlroy on the par-three sixth. He was a little eager with his tee shot, his ball trundling off the back of the green but staying on a slope that could have drawn his ball into the water.

A 6/10 chip leaves him a six-footer for par. A first real tester of the day, but he calmly knocks it in. No damage done. And a huge birdie opportunity coming up.