Aussie Rumford leads by one shot at halfway stage

Only three Scots survive

Qatar Masters cut at 146

NEWS RELEASE
Australian Brett Rumford opened up a one-shot lead at the halfway point of the $2.5 million Commercialbank Qatar Masters, presented by Dolphin Energy, thanks to a second round, six-under-par 66 today
The 32 year-old from Perth, West Australia – the third windiest city in the world – took advantage of a lull in the blustery conditions that blighted day one to shoot the best round of day two and move through the field to nine under par, one stroke ahead of Welshman Bradley Dredge and two ahead of Lee Westwood and Oliver Wilson on seven under.
“I don’t mind playing in windy conditions – I think it actually forces you into hitting certain golf shots and you don’t beat yourself up so much,” said Rumford, pictured above, whose last European Tour win was the 2007 European Masters. “Today was completely different from the first day, which was all about just getting it around the golf course.
“But I’m not setting a benchmark for the weekend. When it’s set up this week in these conditions, it’s a very, very tough golf course. What you see on TV actually reflects how it plays – very lush, very green, perfect lies, perfect greens and a little bit different to what we are used to.”
Rumford’s round of seven birdies and one bogey was the highlight of a day that saw the leaderboard remain relatively unscathed as more familiar European Tour names failed to take advantage of the benign conditions.
Welshman Dredge – who had shared the overnight lead with Oliver Wilson of England – produced a 69 (-3) to hold second place, while Westwood maintained his charge with a 69 as Wilson had to settle for a 70 (-2).
“With no wind, I thought the course was there for the taking,” said Dredge. “I didn’t play as well as the opening day but I’m still pleased with a 69.”
European No 1 Westwood remains an ominous presence just two shots off the lead. And the world’s number four-ranked player brushed off suggestions that he should struggle with the new set of clubs he is using for the first time at Doha Golf Club.
“There’s no getting used to the new clubs – you shouldn’t have to get used to a new set of clubs. They should just fit straight in,” said Westwood after blotting six birdies with three bogeys. “I didn’t hit the ball as good as I did yesterday but while there was a lot less wind I suppose if you don’t hit it great and you shoot 69 you have to be pleased with your game.”
While Westwood remains the premier English player in the sport, fellow countryman Oliver Wilson continues to make great strides and Westwood would be more than happy to be paired with his fellow European Ryder Cup player as the tournament moves into its final two days
“Olly caddied for me once when I was 16 and he was something like 11,” said Westwood. “I wanted to use a 3-wood but he suggested I go with driver, which I did and went about 20 yards over the back of the green. That ended his caddying days with me - fortunately he’s turned out to be a better player than a caddie.”
While Wilson, Westwood, Dredge and Rumford maintain hopes of landing the Mother of Pearl trophy in the second of three events staged consecutively in the Middle East, Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie, world number ten Ian Poulter, Major winners Todd Hamilton, Michael Campbell and Paul Lawrie as well as former Qatar champions Andrew Coltart and Darren Fichardt all missed the cut, while England’s Graeme Storm withdrew due to a shoulder injury.

SECOND-ROUND TOTALS

135 Brett Rumford (Aus) 69 66


136 Bradley Dredge 67 69
137 Oliver Wilson 67 70, Lee Westwood 68 69
138 Robert Karlsson (Swe) 68 70, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 70 68
139 Peter Hanson (Swe) 70 69, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 70 69
140 Graeme McDowell 73 67, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 70 70, Paul Casey 71 69, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 72 68, Peter Lawrie 72 68
141 Shane Lowry 71 70, Richard Finch 74 67, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 71 70
142 Marc Warren 71 71, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 72 70, Camilo Villegas (Col) 70 72
143 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 71 72, Richard Bland 74 69, Chris Wood 75 68, Richie Ramsay 70 73, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 74 69, Ross Fisher 70 73, Marcel Siem (Ger) 68 75, David Horsey 74 69, Nick Dougherty 72 71, Sam Hutsby 72 71, Anthony Kang (USA) 73 70, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 73 70
144 Mikael Lundberg (Swe) 71 73, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 73 71, Soren Hansen (Den) 75 69, Francois Delamontagne (Fra) 71 73, Danny Willett 76 68, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 72 72, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 74 70, Mark Brown (Nzl) 76 68, Simon Dyson 73 71, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 72 72, Alexander Noren (Swe) 68 76, Shaun Micheel (USA) 73 71, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 75 69
145 Hennie Otto (Rsa) 71 74, Gareth Maybin 71 74, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 73 72, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 74 71, Simon Khan 76 69, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 75 70, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 75 70, Stephen Gallacher 75 70, Stephen Dodd 75 70, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa) 74 71, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 73 72
146 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 74 72, Joakim Haeggman (Swe) 77 69, Christian Nilsson (Swe) 74 72, Anders Hansen (Den) 71 75, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 74 72, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 78 68, John Bickerton 74 72, Kenny Perry (USA) 74 72, Danny Lee (Nzl) 73 73, Richard Green (Aus) 74 72, Thomas Levet (Fra) 75 71, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 77 69, Michael Hoey 74 72.


MISSED THE CUT
147 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 77 70, Damien McGrane 75 72, Paul Lawrie 75 72, Ian Poulter 75 72, Andrew Coltart 72 75, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 74 73, David Lynn 77 70, Paul Broadhurst 72 75, Barry Lane 79 68
148 Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 76 72, Anthony Wall 74 74, Gary Lockerbie 73 75, Max Williams (Gbr) 73 75, Colin Montgomerie 76 72, David Howell 77 71, Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 75 73, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 75 73, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 75 73, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 76 72
149 Oskar Henningsson (Swe) 72 77, Rafael Echenique (Arg) 75 74, Sam Little 79 70, Kenneth Ferrie 77 72
150 Steve Webster 78 72, Gary Orr 76 74, Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 78 72, Erik Compton (USA) 81 69, Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 73 77, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 73 77, Gary Boyd 73 77, Robert Rock 81 69, David Drysdale 77 73, Michael Jonzon (Swe) 76 74
151 Paul Waring 77 74, Markus Brier (Aut) 79 72, Johan Edfors (Swe) 79 72
152 Christian Cevaer (Fra) 75 77, James Kingston (Rsa) 73 79, Jamie Donaldson 80 72, Alastair Forsyth 74 78, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 75 77, Ross McGowan 77 75
153 Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 77 76, Michael Campbell (Nzl) 77 76, Ariel Canete (Arg) 75 78, Todd Hamilton (USA) 78 75, Darren Fichardt (Rsa) 78 75, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind) 75 78, Gregory Havret (Fra) 80 73
154 Jeppe Huldahl (Den) 78 76, Rolf Muntz (Ned) 78 76
155 Rhys Davies 81 74
156 Tano Goya (Arg) 79 77
157 Pablo Martin (Spa) 80 77
158 David Dixon 82 76, Seve Benson 79 79