Adrian Otaegui produced a show-stopping finish to sit at the top of a congested leaderboard and take a one-shot lead into the weekend at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.
The Spaniard made birdies on the 16th, 17th and 18th to sign for a 66 at Doha Golf Club and get to 11 under, leading the way from Scot Stephen Gallacher, Frenchman Grégory Havret, England’s Eddie Pepperell and South African Erik van Rooyen.
Otaegui won his first European Tour title at last season’s Saltire Energy Paul Lawrie Match Play and has developed in one of the most consistent performers on Tour, making his last nine cuts.
He opened with a bogey-free 67 on Thursday and went one better in round two, making a single bogey as he leapfrogged Van Rooyen, who had set the target in the morning.
“I think it was similar out there today to the first round. There was no wind, it’s a low-scoring course this year so I think there was no real difference between the first two days. I know I’m playing well, I’m confident with my game at the moment and I’m just trying to keep my momentum going. I’m really looking forward to the weekend now. I just wanted to stay patient hole after hole and we’ll see what happens.” – Adrian Otaegui
Van Rooyen, the rookie who finished third on last year’s Challenge Tour to earn his spot on the European Tour, has made himself right at home, finishing second at the Joburg Open in December and is well placed to make a weekend charge for a maiden win here in Qatar.
Of the players with local connections, MENA Tour player Josh White of England took full advantage of his invite following his Qatar Open professional victory to make the cut on the mark.
Pakistani amateur Ahmed Baig shot an impressive three under par 69 in the second round but missed the second round cut at one under for 36 holes. Also missing the cut was defending champion Jeunghun Wang on one under.
Moroccan professional Ahmed Marjan shot a two round total of one over par while local and regional amateurs Ali Saleh al Kaaba (Qatar) shot eight over par, Shergo al Kurdi (Jordan) nine over par and Ali al Shahrani (Qatar) 13 over par for their respective two round scores.
