Malaysia’s Gavin Green added a second round three-under-par 67 to his opening 64 to lie in second place at the Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers, one shot behind his former University of New Mexico team-mate Victor Perez.
Green carded five birdies against two dropped shots at the par-70 Royal Greens Golf & Country Club in the King Abdullah Economic City to lie on nine-under-par. Meanwhile, Frenchman Perez powered to the top of the leaderboard with a second successive 65.
Northern Irish stalwart Graeme McDowell, who co-led with Green after the first round, is in third place on eight-under-par.
The second edition of the US$3.5 million event boasts a star-studded field including World No 1 Brooks Koepka, defending champion Dustin Johnson, Henrik Stenson, Sergio Garcia and reigning Open champion Shane Lowry.
Johnson won last year’s inaugural event with a 19-under-par total, two strokes head of China’s Li Haotong.
Green is currently in 36th place on the European Tour’s Race To Dubai standings and is aiming to stay within the top-50 to get into the season-ending DP World Tour Championship.
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