DEFENDING CHAMPION PAUL LAWRIE MISSES CUT IN QATAR MASTERS
FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Sergio Garcia and Martin Kaymer, Ryder Cup team-mates who both ended last year lifting a trophy, are part of a four-way tie for the halfway lead at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.
But Paul Lawrie, another of Europe's heroes in Chicago, saw his defence of the title come to a premature end after a four-putt double bogey on the 15th hole. He missed the cut by a single stroke.
Playing partner Garcia shot 66 and Kaymer returned a 67 to be alongside Australian Marcus Fraser and Portugal's Ricardo Santos on nine under par.
Garcia underwent laser eye surgery to correct astigmatism following the victory over the Americans in September, but finished 2012 with a round of 61 for a three shot win at the Johor Open in Malaysia.
That came two weeks after Kaymer, the man who sank the putt to retain The Ryder Cup and leapt into the Spaniard's arms, took the Nedbank Challenge in South Africa by two.
While the German played in Abu Dhabi last week and came joint sixth, this is Garcia's first appearance of the season.
"It was nice - I definitely felt I played a little bit better than yesterday," the 32 year old said after his six birdies.
"Obviously I would have loved to hit a couple of shots better, but I gave myself a lot of chances and I can't be disappointed.
"The wind started picking up a bit and it made it tough enough to choose the right clubs.
"We tried to play smart and managed to do that fairly nicely."
First round leader Santos followed up his 65 with a 70, making a fine up and down from the bunker at the par five last, while Fraser did the same on the long ninth to complete his 67.
“It was a little bit scrappy down the last hole but I managed to scramble a par,” said two-time European Tour winner Fraser.
“Overall I felt like I played pretty steadily most of the day. I made a few birdies once I got on to the back nine, which was the front nine, but I'm pretty happy with the day.
“It is definitely one of those courses where you need to be patient and just take your chances where you can get them.”
Santos may not have been able to maintain his first round advantage, but the Madeira Islands Open winner was still pleased with his efforts.
“I struck the ball very well today,” he said. “I just missed a few shots but I'm still happy with the round.
“This afternoon the wind is a little bit stronger than the morning, so I'm happy with two under. It's never easy, but I started really well - after four holes I was three under - so I told myself to just keep playing like that.
“I just want to play my game the best I can, and then we'll see. I want to enjoy the weekend.”
World Number Four Justin Rose made his first cut in five visits to Doha. "That's almost like leading the tournament round here," he joked. With a 71 for five under, last week's runner-up has four strokes to make up and lies joint 20th.
Rose, penalised a shot on the opening day when his ball moved as he prepared to tap in on the 17th, had only himself to blame for a bogey six at the 591-yard first.
That was his tenth hole of the round and he sent his second shot way right into the desert scrub and needed three more just to make the green.
He dropped another after driving into sand on the tenth, but made a 15 footer for birdie at the short eighth.
Open Champion Ernie Els, the winner here in 2005, made it through with nothing to spare on one under, but twice champion Lawrie was unable to recover from his nightmare on the 15th.
The Scot's long birdie attempt from the front fringe finished three feet from the flag and he three-putted from there before missing a six foot chance to survive on the last.
The four leaders are a stroke ahead of England's Gary Lockerbie, South African George Coetzee, Chilean Felipe Aguilar, New Zealand's former US Open Champion Michael Campbell and Dane Thorbjørn Olesen, who was joint second with Rose in Abu Dhabi last Sunday.
Sergio Garcia and Martin Kaymer, Ryder Cup team-mates who both ended last year lifting a trophy, are part of a four-way tie for the halfway lead at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.
But Paul Lawrie, another of Europe's heroes in Chicago, saw his defence of the title come to a premature end after a four-putt double bogey on the 15th hole. He missed the cut by a single stroke.
Playing partner Garcia shot 66 and Kaymer returned a 67 to be alongside Australian Marcus Fraser and Portugal's Ricardo Santos on nine under par.
Garcia underwent laser eye surgery to correct astigmatism following the victory over the Americans in September, but finished 2012 with a round of 61 for a three shot win at the Johor Open in Malaysia.
That came two weeks after Kaymer, the man who sank the putt to retain The Ryder Cup and leapt into the Spaniard's arms, took the Nedbank Challenge in South Africa by two.
While the German played in Abu Dhabi last week and came joint sixth, this is Garcia's first appearance of the season.
"It was nice - I definitely felt I played a little bit better than yesterday," the 32 year old said after his six birdies.
"Obviously I would have loved to hit a couple of shots better, but I gave myself a lot of chances and I can't be disappointed.
"The wind started picking up a bit and it made it tough enough to choose the right clubs.
"We tried to play smart and managed to do that fairly nicely."
First round leader Santos followed up his 65 with a 70, making a fine up and down from the bunker at the par five last, while Fraser did the same on the long ninth to complete his 67.
“It was a little bit scrappy down the last hole but I managed to scramble a par,” said two-time European Tour winner Fraser.
“Overall I felt like I played pretty steadily most of the day. I made a few birdies once I got on to the back nine, which was the front nine, but I'm pretty happy with the day.
“It is definitely one of those courses where you need to be patient and just take your chances where you can get them.”
Santos may not have been able to maintain his first round advantage, but the Madeira Islands Open winner was still pleased with his efforts.
“I struck the ball very well today,” he said. “I just missed a few shots but I'm still happy with the round.
“This afternoon the wind is a little bit stronger than the morning, so I'm happy with two under. It's never easy, but I started really well - after four holes I was three under - so I told myself to just keep playing like that.
“I just want to play my game the best I can, and then we'll see. I want to enjoy the weekend.”
World Number Four Justin Rose made his first cut in five visits to Doha. "That's almost like leading the tournament round here," he joked. With a 71 for five under, last week's runner-up has four strokes to make up and lies joint 20th.
Rose, penalised a shot on the opening day when his ball moved as he prepared to tap in on the 17th, had only himself to blame for a bogey six at the 591-yard first.
That was his tenth hole of the round and he sent his second shot way right into the desert scrub and needed three more just to make the green.
He dropped another after driving into sand on the tenth, but made a 15 footer for birdie at the short eighth.
Open Champion Ernie Els, the winner here in 2005, made it through with nothing to spare on one under, but twice champion Lawrie was unable to recover from his nightmare on the 15th.
The Scot's long birdie attempt from the front fringe finished three feet from the flag and he three-putted from there before missing a six foot chance to survive on the last.
The four leaders are a stroke ahead of England's Gary Lockerbie, South African George Coetzee, Chilean Felipe Aguilar, New Zealand's former US Open Champion Michael Campbell and Dane Thorbjørn Olesen, who was joint second with Rose in Abu Dhabi last Sunday.
SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 144 (2x72)
135 M Fraser (Aus) 68 67; M Kaymer (Ger) 68 67; R Santos (Por) 65 70; S Garcia (Esp) 69 66;
136 T Olesen (Den) 68 68; F Aguilar (Chi) 69 67; M Campbell (Nzl) 68 68; G Lockerbie (Eng) 67 69; G Coetzee (RSA) 69 67;
137 A Wall (Eng) 66 71; C Wood (Eng) 67 70; A Hartø (Den) 68 69; A Kaleka (Fra) 66 71; G Mulroy (RSA) 69 68;
138 A Sullivan (Eng) 67 71; P Casey (Eng) 70 68; A Noren (Swe) 71 67; B Grace (RSA) 70 68; J Kruger (RSA) 70 68;
139 H Stenson (Swe) 70 69; M Hoey
(Nir) 70 69; P Whiteford (Sco) 66 73; J Rose (Eng) 68 71; T Jaidee (Tha)
70 69; A Hansen (Den) 68 71; T Aiken (RSA) 71 68; L Gagli (Ita) 68 71;
M Lundberg (Swe) 72 67; G Havret (Fra) 70 69; G Fdez-Castaño
(Esp) 69 70;
140 S Khan (Eng) 67 73; D Horsey
(Eng) 68 72; S Webster (Eng) 69 71; B Rumford (Aus) 67 73; M Ilonen
(Fin) 71 69; D McGrane (Irl) 68 72; L Oosthuizen (RSA) 71 69; R Derksen
(Ned) 71 69; R Bland (Eng) 71 69; R Jacquelin (Fra) 73 67;
V Dubuisson (Fra) 68 72;
141 T Björn (Den) 72 69; R Green
(Aus) 68 73; J Sjöholm (Swe) 69 72; C Lee (Sco) 72 69; T Lewis (Eng) 70
71; J Dufner (USA) 71 70; M Manassero (Ita) 69 72; P Hanson (Swe) 68 73;
142 T Hamilton (USA) 73 69; P
Meesawat (Tha) 71 71; M Foster (Eng) 71 71; R Wattel (Fra) 72 70; P
Waring (Eng) 73 69; D Howell (Eng) 69 73; B Wiesberger (Aut) 70 72;
143 E Els (RSA) 72 71; S Dyson
(Eng) 71 72; E Goya (Arg) 71 72; S Chowrasia (Ind) 70 73; P Lawrie (Irl)
72 71; R Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 71 72; S Gallacher (Sco) 72 71; M Baldwin
(Eng) 73 70; S Wakefield (Eng) 71 72; L Slattery (Eng) 70
73; D Drysdale (Sco) 72 71; T Fleetwood (Eng) 72 71; S Henry (Sco) 69
74; J Gonnet (Fra) 71 72; C Doak (Sco) 72 71; M Siem (Ger) 72 71; F
Zanotti (Par) 70 73; G Maybin (Nir) 72 71
MISSED THE CUT
MISSED THE CUT
144 C Lloyd (Eng) 71 73; I Garrido
(Esp) 71 73; P Lawrie (Sco) 72 72; A Dodt (Aus) 73 71; M Wiegele (Aut)
67 77; R Finch (Eng) 74 70; T Levet (Fra) 71 73; A Cañizares (Esp) 72
72; J Parry (Eng) 72 72;
145 M Kieffer (Ger) 75 70; R
Gonzalez (Arg) 69 76; M Lafeber (Ned) 72 73; H Otto (RSA) 72 73; J
Campillo (Esp) 74 71; O Fisher (Eng) 71 74; R Goosen (RSA) 74 71; G
Storm (Eng) 73 72; S Kjeldsen (Den) 72 73;
146 J Walters (RSA) 72 74; K Broberg
(Swe) 73 73; G Bourdy (Fra) 71 75; F Andersson Hed (Swe) 75 71; P Price
(Wal) 73 73; M Warren (Sco) 69 77; D Fichardt (RSA) 71 75; J Edfors
(Swe) 72 74;
147 J Singh (Ind) 72 75; E Pepperell
(Eng) 78 69; A Tadini (Ita) 73 74; E Grillo (Arg) 77 70; P Erofejeff
(Fin) 74 73; J Hansen (Den) 73 74; E Kofstad (Nor) 72 75;
148 C Cévaër (Fra) 71 77; J Lara (Esp) 72 76; P McGinley (Irl) 73 75; M Williams (am) (Eng) 72 76;
149 N Fasth (Swe) 73 76;
150 K Horne (RSA) 72 78; J Busby (Eng) 77 73;
151 S Jamieson (Sco) 74 77; C Montgomerie (Sco) 72 79; D Foos (am) (Ger) 75 76
152 P Larrazábal (Esp) 75 77; E Molinari (Ita) 71 81; J Olazábal (Esp) 77 75; R Coles (Eng) 74 78
154 C Paisley (Eng) 75 79; M Lampert (Ger) 76 78
159 S Al Kaabi (am) (Qat) 81 78
161 G Al Kuwari (am) (Qat) 76 85
162 J Thornton (Eng) 83 79
Labels: EUROPEAN TOUR
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | Thursday, January 24, 2013
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