Tommy Fleetwood finds his rhythm at Omega Dubai Desert Classic to extend run of consecutive cuts made

Englishman fires lowest score of round two to come within four strokes of leader Eddie Pepperell

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Tommy Fleetwood extended his run of consecutive cuts made worldwide to 44 tournaments, as he fired the lowest score of Round 2 at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic.

Scarcely during that run will the world No 10 have paid much thought to the cut line.

His form over that spell has been such that, more often than not, his thoughts have been taken by contending for titles rather than survival.

That was not the case at Emirates Golf Club, as he teed it up on Friday afternoon at 3-over par after a struggle on the greens on the opening day.

A vastly improved display with the flat stick meant he more resembled the player who finished runner up at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship presented by EGA on Sunday.

His second-round 65 vaulted him up to a tie for eighth, and within four strokes of the 36-hole leader Eddie Pepperell.

“You never really want to think about the cut, but obviously when you start off at 3-over the first priority is to make sure that you made the cut and play for the weekend,” Fleetwood said.

“That is the first priority every time you peg it up week-to-week as professional golfers – to make cuts and make money.

“First and foremost, it is try and get yourself in the cut line. I feel like I navigated the front nine really well and the course has played so much harder this year so you can't take anything for granted.

“Once I got through the front nine, the back nine with three par-5s, I felt like there was more chances, so I felt very comfortable walking to the 10th tee.

“But at no point was it about trying get yourself up the leaderboard, try and make the cut. It was just about doing my best.”

Fleetwood’s run of made cuts extends back to 2018, and he is aware of the streak he is on.

“It’s something I'm very proud of,” Fleetwood said.

“I would like some more wins possibly as well. It's so easy to make excuses that I wasn't putting well this week or, like yesterday, I could have easily said, 'I'm putting terrible this week, just put it down to that and let's get on with next week.'

“To have played that consistently over that course of time is something I'm proud of.

"I think it shows a lot about how I go about things, about the people that I work with, and the preparation we put in.

“I'm sure it's going to come to an end at some point, but for now I’m just happy I'm still here for the weekend.”