Goosen and left-hander Green share halfway lead

PAUL LAWRIE JT 4TH
ON EIGHT-UNDER 136,
THREE OFF PACE

Richard Green celebrated Australia Day in grand style today, shooting a brilliant seven-under-par 65 for the joint halfway lead with Retief Goosen at the Commercialbank Qatar Masters.
The left-handed Green produced the fireworks at the Doha Golf Club with seven birdies and remained as the only bogey-free player in the elite field in the US$2.2 million event jointly sanctioned by the Asian Tour and European Tour.
Tied atop the leaderboard is South Africa's Goosen, who carded a 68, and the duo are 11-under-par 133 and two shots clear of another Australian leftie, Nick O'Hern, who carded a 69.
China's Liang Wen-chong flew the Asian flag with a blemish-free 67 for a share of fourth place, three off the lead, with defending champion Henrik Stenson (68), Miguel Angel Jimenez (70) and 1999 Open champion Paul Lawrie (67) who won the Qatar Masters in 1999.
Asian Tour No 1 Jeev Milkha Singh of India, Thai teenager Chinarat Phadungsil and American Edward Michaels continued to impress to lie in tied eighth place on 137.
AUSTRALIA'S NATIONAL DAY
Green, whose lone European Tour victory came at the 1997 Dubai Desert Classic, was rock steady as he marked Australia's national day with an accomplished performance. "It is a day worth celebrating so it is a nice score to celebrate the day. I played nicely yesterday and today," said the 35-year-old.
With six runner-up finishes to his name, Green is eager to add a second European title to his resume. "It would be fantastic. I play well over here and always play well at this time of the year so I like to make the most of it.
"I played very nicely the first two days. It has been quite a pleasure being out there playing golf. I have hit some really nice shots and never looked like making a bogey. It has been nice," said Green.
WHAT'S VEGEMITE?
His only disappointment was his failure to find any vegemite on toast for breakfast, a staple diet amongst Australians. "I couldn’t find any. It would have been nice to have found something but the closest I could come up with was baked beans," he said.
World No 8 Goosen, the overnight leader, lipped out a par putt on his 14th hole of the day at the fifth to fall into a share of the lead. But the smooth-swinging South African was delighted with his driving display after finding only half the fairways in the opening round on Thursday.
"Much better driving today. I hit 11 fairways which was not bad. Just didn’t do it on the front nine, which was my back nine. Couldn’t get it going there," said the two-time US Open champion.
"I'm still struggling on the par-5s but I have given myself some birdie chances. There are
36 holes left and a lot can happen," he said.
Paul Lawrie birdied the fifth and long ninth to be out in two-under-par 34 and went three under the card with a birdie at the short 13th. The Aberdonian dropped his first shot at the 14th but finished strongly with birdies at the 15th, 16th and 18th for a 67.
The only other Scot to qualify was Andrew Coltart who won this title the year before Paul did. Andrew has had rounds of 72 and 70 to qualify safely with 142.
Par 144 was good enough to qualify for the final two rounds; one-over-par 145 was not.
PAUL CASEY NON-QUALIFIER
Shock non-qualifier was last week's impressive winner in Dubai - Ryder Cup ace Paul Casey. He had five bogeys and four birdies for a 73 and 145.
Barry Hume from Glasgow missed the boat on 145 also with a second-round 75 which had a terrible run from holes three to 15 inclusive. Barry, after birdieing the first, dropped shots at the third, 10th, 11th, 13th and 15th. A birdie at the short 17th was too little, too late.
Other Scots who failed were Scott Drummond (146), Marc Warren (147) and Simon Yates (148). Another Ryder Cup hero who will not be playing in the last two rounds is Darren Clarke. He was way off the mark with a total of seven-over-par 151.
HALFWAY LEADERS
Par 144 (2 x 72)
133 Retief Goosen (SAf) 65-68, Richard Green (Aus) 68-65.
135 Nick O'Hern (Aus) 66-69.
136 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 66-70, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 68-68, Paul Lawrie (Sco) 69-67, Liang Wen-chong (Chi) 69-67.
137 Edward Michaels (US) 68-69, Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 69-68, Chinarat Phadungsi (Tha) 69-68.
138 Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 70-68, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 71-67.
139 Nick Dougherty (Eng) 68-71, Mardan Mamat (Sin) 69-70, Ariel Canete (Arg) 69-70, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 70-69, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 70-69, Paul McGinley (Ire) 71-68, Chris Dimarco (US) 73-66.
140 Shiv Kapur (Ind) 67-73, Ernie Els (SAf) 69-71, Michael Campbell (NZ) 70-70, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 70-70, Chris Rodgers (Eng) 70-70, Paul Broadhurst (Eng) 71-69, Stephen Dodd (Wal) 72-68, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 73-67, Johan Edfors (Swe) 73-67.
141 Juvic Pagunsan (Phi) 70-71, Andres Romero (Arg) 70-71, Scott Strange (Aus) 70-71, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 70-71, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 70-71, Simon Hurd (Eng) 71-70, Terry Pilkadaris (Aus) 71-70, Lee Westwood (Eng) 71-70, Anton Haig (SAf) 71-70, Prom Meesawat (Tha) 71-70, Søren Kjeldsen (Den) 72-69, Gary Simpson (Aus) 72-69, Graeme McDowell (NIr) 73-68, Oliver Fisher (Eng) 73-68.
Other qualifiers:
142 Andrew Coltart (Sco) 72 70.
144 Kenneth Ferrie (Eng) 70 74, Jean Van de Velde (Fra) 75 69.
NON-QUALIFIERS
145 Paul Casey (Eng) 72 73, Barry Hume (Sco) 70 75.
146 Scott Drummond (Sco) 71 75.
147 Marc Warren (Sco) 72 75.
148 Simon Yates (Sco) 74 74.
151 Darren Clarke (NIr) 75 76.