Steady progress for Qatar Open Golf Championship
DOHA, January 27, 2018-Overnight leader Ayoub Id Omar led top 50 players into the final round of the Qatar Open Golf Championship after finishing the second round with a level score on Friday.
The 21-year-old Moroccan, showing both promise and poise, had gained three more strokes to open a six-shot lead in his first nine holes after starting the day on the 10th.
The 2017 Italian International Amateur Championship runner-up parred the next six holes to collect three under 141, gaining a two-shot lead over Pakistan's Ahmed Baig and England's Joshua White.
"I'm happy to finish the day with level par round. At one stage I was three shots up. But suddenly I lost control over my play and threw away the advantage," said the Moroccan.
"I'm still two strokes ahead entering the final day. I'll try to do my best and see what happens," said Omar, who was 15th in Doha last year.
His display also helped local player Ali al Shahrani. After playing three over par yesterday, he had also saved a couple of shots to improve his position.
However, with Omar experiencing a dip, he had fumbled but managed to place himself as the leading Qatari player with a second-round 72 for a three over 147 total.
Still the tall Qatari player jumped nine places from a shared 19th on the first day to be among the top 10 with Dane Mikkel Mathiesen.
Shahrani, who had skipped the event last year to focus on his graduation, said:"I was doing well on the first nine but could not sustain my game. Still, I'm happy to be back and leading the race for two spots in the Qatar Masters for Qatari players. Now that I've finished my studies, I will try to give my time to the game and improve myself," added Shahrani.
Fresh from his Faldo Challenge win this month, Baig was the only player to card an under par score on Friday. Given the conditions and how the players fared on the day, his two under 70 is creditable.
The Pakistani player shares the second spot with White, who went three over par to aggregate one under 143. White was delighted to be the new leader of the Pro category.
"Today was definitely a lot tougher than yesterday. There was not only the cross-wind, but also the down-wind. So the start line of the ball was more difficult. Also the pins were a lot trickier. It was quite hard to get to the holes. I don't think there is going to be too many low scores today.
"I'm indeed in the mix of things. The final day will depend on how you go out and play. I will try to be in contention," said the English player, whose best was a tied third in the Sahara Kuwait championship last year on the Mena Tour and a share 10th spot in the Trophee Hassan II in 2016.
Thomas Strandemo, who has been keeping his place among the top 10 finishers here regularly, followed up his first day's 70 with a two over par 74 to hold the fourth spot. The 2015 edition runner-up from America totalled 144 for the first two days and would be among the players capable of putting pressure on the leaders.
Defending champion Pierre Verlaar Jr (the Netherlands) and 2015 winner Jakub Hrinda (Slovakia) both could not maintain their places and slipped to 14 and 12, respectively. While Verlaar shot a four over 76, Hrinda got three over 75.
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