South Africa's Thomas Aiken masters bad conditions to lead Qatar Masters
- Planet Sport writer
- 1 day ago
South Africa's Thomas Aiken defied the conditions to secure the clubhouse target on the second day of the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.
One of the 66 players unable to complete round one on Thursday due to stoppages for bad weather, Aiken compiled scores of 69 and 65 on Friday to reach 10 under par at Doha Golf Club.
Spain's Santiago Tarrio and New Zealand's Daniel Hillier were also 10 under with six and seven holes to play respectively, with Ryder Cup winner Robert MacIntyre, vice-captain Edoardo Molinari and defending champion Ewen Ferguson all on nine under.
Round two is scheduled to resume at 0630 local time on Saturday.
"I played really solid today," Aiken said. "We had 31 holes to play, so it was a long day and an early wake-up call.
"It's a course that I like, I've always played well here in the past. Unfortunately with the rain yesterday it got a little wet, normally it plays firm and fast, which is what I like.
"Hopefully it dries up over the weekend and starts playing more like that. It's tough competing against these youngsters these days, they hit it so far.
Aiken, who has won three times on the DP World Tour but is currently ranked 824th in the world, added: "I haven't played that badly.
"I've been consistent, made a lot of cuts, but either I've had a really good ball-striking week and the putter hasn't quite been there, or I've had a good putting week and I'm just too far away from the hole.
"It's getting a little tougher to play in your forties, but I still feel like I can win out here. I just need the right golf course. Unfortunately I haven't been able to pick and choose my courses this year.
"I've played a lot of courses I would normally not play, but this is definitely one where I've always done well in the past."
The best round of the day – and the week so far – came from American John Catlin, whose flawless 63 was an incredible 14-shot improvement on his opening 77 and kept his hopes of retaining his card alive.
"It was just one of those days where I found a little something before I went out and played," Catlin said.
"I was just sitting in the lounge thinking about stuff; haven't really played my best this year and was like, ‘you know what? Let's try a little something'.
"I tried it on the putting green and all of a sudden the putts started going in and because they did I started to feel more confident with my irons… weird how golf is."
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