Australian golfer Marcus Fraser had a second round of 67 to join a four-way tie for the lead at the halfway mark of the European Tour’s Qatar Masters on Thursday.
Also at nine-under par 135 were Spaniard Sergio Garcia (67), German Martin Kaymer (67) and Portugal’s overnight leader Ricardo Santos (70).
A bunch of six, including New Zealand’s former US Open champion Michael Campbell, were in joint second spot on 136.
Fraser, a two-time winner on the European Tour, had a brilliant if unusual round.
After parring the first nine holes, the world number 58 produced a string of five birdies over the next seven holes before finishing with two pars.
“I played really well. It was a little bit scrappy down the last hole but managed to scramble a par,” said Fraser.
“Overall, yeah, felt like I played pretty steady most of the day. Made a few birdies once I got on to the back nine, which was the front nine, but yeah, pretty happy with the day.
“It was definitely one of those courses where you need to be patient and just take your chances where you can get them. Definitely did that on the second nine, so that was nice.”
Fraser was surprised at the benign conditions on the Doha course.
“The breeze got up a little bit late in the afternoon yesterday, but the weather has been unbelievable so far this week,” he said.
“It normally blows a hurricane every year we come here, but the weather yesterday and today has been beautiful. It’s perfect conditions to get out there and shoot a good score.”
Meanwhile, England’s Justin Rose, who incurred a one-shot penalty in the first round when his ball moved as he prepared to putt shot 71 to make his first cut in five appearances in Qatar.
But there was no luck for Scotland’s Paul Lawrie, the defending champion missing the cut by a single stroke after a double bogey on the 15th hole.