Staff WriterThe DP World PGTI Open had the look of a tournament beginning to bare its teeth on Friday, and by nightfall it had produced two leaders, one course record and the sort of unfinished business that tends to make Saturday mornings feel a little tighter around the collar.
South Africa’s MJ Daffue and India’s Rashid Khan ended the day tied at 13 under par, though they arrived there by very different roads. Daffue signed for a dazzling, bogey-free 61 at Classic Golf and Country Club, while Khan surged alongside him before play was suspended due to darkness, still with three holes left to complete in his second round.
That left the leaderboard with a pleasing bit of tension to it. Daffue had already posted the number everyone else would spend the afternoon squinting at. Khan, meanwhile, was still out there with daylight thinning and momentum building.
Daffue turns the course inside out
Daffue began on the tenth and set about the place with the casual efficiency of a man who had seen the answers before anyone else got the paper. He made four gains in his first six holes, then stitched together four straight birdies around the turn.
By then, the round had gone from solid to dangerous.
The 37-year-old, already a winner on the 2026 Road to Mallorca after taking the NTT Data Pro-Am last month, added three more birdies on the way home to establish a new course record. No dropped shots. No visible fuss. Just 18 holes of clean, sharp, beautifully controlled golf.
“Overall, it was a very easy 61. I hit it great, putted well and didn’t miss any,” he said.
“Days like this don’t come around very often but the game has been trending, and I’ve been putting some hard work in.
“Down the stretch I was thinking about having a chance on the last for that magical number but overall, I needed to stick to my game and not getting in my own way. It’s so easy to think too far ahead and to try and do certain things when you should just let it come to you.
“Obviously winning at Fancourt was amazing and I feel like I want to be in these positions because I know I can get it done. I want to contend every week and chasing a second win is nice.”
There was a lot tucked into that round beyond the arithmetic. Daffue did not merely score; he controlled the pace of the day. In a tournament recap, people often rush to the headline figure, but the more revealing detail was the absence of noise. No bogeys. No stumble. No moment where the round looked likely to wobble.
That matters in a DP World Tour-sanctioned event where contenders tend to multiply quickly if a leader leaves even the smallest crack in the door.
Khan’s charge came with a bang
Khan’s route was rather less serene and perhaps more fun for those watching. Also starting on the tenth, the Indian found rhythm early and then found something even better: lift-off.
He birdied three of his first seven holes and produced the day’s loudest flourish on the 13th, where he holed out from 135 yards for eagle. That shot changed the feel of his round and, in truth, changed the feel of the DP World PGTI Open.
Until then, Daffue’s 61 had threatened to become the one overwhelming story of the day. Khan made sure it was not.
“I started really well,” he said. “I made a birdie on my second hole, the par three eleventh, and that’s not an easy hole to score two on, so I was pleased.”
“The 13th, I had 135 yards to the flag and slam-dunked for eagle, and that’s where things really picked up for me, it gave me a lot of confidence. I hit a few good putts around the turn, so it has been a really good day.”
“I want to approach tomorrow the same way. I want to keep things simple; I have three holes left of my second round, tomorrow, and we will see how the next two rounds go.”
There is a practical intelligence to that outlook. Khan still has work to do before the third round even begins, and that peculiar stop-start rhythm can unsettle a player if he lets it. The trick, as ever, is to resist playing the whole weekend in your head before breakfast.
A leaderboard with proper shape
Behind the leading pair, Sweden’s Adam Wallin and Spain’s Albert Boneta sit two shots back on 11 under par. They will return with Khan at 7:30am on Saturday to complete their second rounds, ensuring the morning carries the slightly odd theatre of one round ending while another waits politely offstage.
That delay also means the third round of the DP World PGTI Open will not begin before 11:00 am local time on Saturday.
From a leaderboard standpoint, that is significant. Daffue has posted first and can only wait. Khan has momentum but unfinished business. Wallin and Boneta remain close enough to turn this into something crowded in a hurry.
Two shots in professional golf is not a cushion. It is more like a polite suggestion.
What Friday means for the weekend
Daffue now has a chance to collect a second Road to Mallorca win in short order, which would do more than pad a résumé. It would confirm that his recent victory was not merely a good week with a kind putter, but part of a broader run of form built on confidence and control.
Khan’s position is equally compelling. He has not just climbed into contention; he has done it with the sort of spark that can unsettle a leaderboard. An eagle from the fairway tends to do that. So does the knowledge that you have drawn level with the man who just shot 61.
And that is what makes this DP World PGTI Open interesting heading into Saturday. One man has already shown he can dismantle the golf course with surgical calm. Another has shown he can rattle it with bursts of brilliance. Between them, they have set a standard the rest will now have to chase.
By the time the sun went down, the tournament had become properly alive. Not loud. Not chaotic. Just alive in the way the best weekends often are, with enough certainty to frame the story and enough uncertainty to make you come back for the next chapter.
