Rory McIlroy watches Shane Lowry ace 13th hole in Dubai

Rory McIlroy was on hand to witness good friend Shane Lowry hole his tee shot on the par-3 13th Friday at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

Bringing up the rear in the second round of the European Tour’s season finale, the old pals shared a hearty high five after Lowry used a 7-iron to perfection on the 183-yard hole and record his first career ace.

Lowry’s hole-in-one gave him a 1-under 71 for the day and 7-under for the week -- three shots behind 36-hole leader Henrik Stenson.

McIlroy, who played flawless golf Thursday and enters the weekend two shots back of Stenson, rode an emotional roller-coaster in round two, as his reactions to a birdie on No. 17 and his errant drive on the par-5 18th illustrated.

McIlroy and Lowry struck up a friendship when they were teammates on the Irish amateur team and the two -- from Northern Ireland and Ireland, respectively -- practice and share meals often on tour. Anyone who believed the world No. 1 might intimidate his playing partner need only refer to last year’s WGC-Match Play Championship, when Lowry bounced the then-two-time major winner in the first round.