Ireland’s Gavin Moynihan will take some confidence from a second round 67 at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, but a first round of 77 had done the damage as the Dubliner missed a fifth cut in five starts since securing his playing privileges last November.
Moynihan carded five birdies, an eagle and just two bogeys on the way to his best round of the season so far but finished four shots outside the cut mark after getting a last minute place in the tournament as an alternate.
Having arrived in Doha in the early hours of Thursday morning after returning home following his missed cut in Oman last week, Moynihan struggled on Thursday and was never really in contention to make the cut. However, a 67 is a 10-shot improvement on the previous day and will give him something to work with before he heads for the Tshwane Open in South Africa the week after next.
Darren Clarke carded a second round of 74 to also miss the cut.
Spain’s Adrian Otaegui produced a blistering finish to move to the top of a crowded leaderboard at the halfway stage.
Otaegui birdied the last three holes at Doha Golf Club to add a second round of 66 to his opening 67 and finish 11 under par, a shot ahead of Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher, England’s Eddie Pepperell, France’s Gregory Havret and South African Erik van Rooyen.
On another day of low scoring in unusually calm conditions, the halfway cut fell at a record four under par and means the remaining 78 players are separated by just seven shots.
“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,” Otaegui said.
“I’m really looking forward to the weekend now. I just wanted to stay patient hole after hole and we’ll see what happens.”
Gallacher, who is something of a desert specialist after winning back-to-back titles in Dubai, told Sky Sports: “It depends on the elements. If it’s windy and you break 70 you’ve got a good score. If it’s flat calm it’ll be like the first day. We’ll see what the weather’s like and just try to be in contention coming down the stretch on Sunday.”
The highlight of Gallacher’s bogey-free 66 was a birdie from 50 feet on the 13th, while American Sean Crocker is part of a 10-strong group on nine under after finishing eagle, par, eagle in his 68.
Crocker drove the green on the short par-four 16th and holed from 30 feet, before a superb long-iron approach on the last set up another eagle from six feet.
France’s Raphael Jacquelin made the third albatross on Tour in four weeks when holed out from 245 yards on the 10th on his way to a 66 and a share of 11th on eight under par.
Former Ryder Cup players Chris Wood and Jamie Donaldson are a shot further back, with Donaldson’s 65 equalling the lowest score of the day.
South Africa’s Zander Lombard also shot a 65 which included seven birdies in nine holes, but missed the cut by a single shot following an opening 76.
Latest second round scores in the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, Doha GC, Qatar (Britain & Irl unless stated, par 72):
133 Adrian Otaegui (Spa) 67 66
134 Stephen Gallacher 68 66, Eddie Pepperell 65 69, Erik Van Rooyen (Rsa) 68 66, Gregory Havret (Fra) 65 69
135 Sebastian Heisele (Ger) 67 68, George Coetzee (Rsa) 69 66, Sean Crocker (USA) 67 68, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 68 67, Oliver Fisher 66 69
136 Mike Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 68 68, Ryan Evans 69 67, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa) 68 68, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 66 70, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 70 66
137 Marcus Kinhult (Swe) 68 69, Chris Wood 68 69, Matthew Nixon 69 68, Matthieu Pavon (Fra) 68 69, Callum Shinkwin 68 69, Renato Paratore (Ita) 71 66, Andrea Pavan (Ita) 68 69, Jamie Donaldson (Wal) 72 65, Thomas Detry (Bel) 67 70, Lorenzo Gagli (Ita) 67 70
138 Steven Brown 69 69, Richard Bland 69 69, Paul Waring 68 70, Matthew Baldwin 68 70, Aaron Rai 65 73, Jacques Kruyswijk (Rsa) 70 68, James Morrison 72 66, Marc Warren 68 70, Bradley Dredge (Wal) 70 68
139 Ricardo Gouveia (Por) 71 68, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 67 72, Alexander Bjork (Swe) 70 69, Ashun Wu (Chn) 69 70, Joakim Lagergren (Swe) 68 71, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 68 71, Chase Koepka (USA) 71 68, Rak hyun Cho (Kor) 69 70, David Howell 69 70, David Horsey 71 68, Scott Fernandez (Spa) 69 70, Hideto Tanihara (Jpn) 70 69, Andy Sullivan 69 70, Marcel Siem (Ger) 73 66, Sebastien Gros (Fra) 69 70, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 70 69, Justin Walters (Rsa) 68 71, Mark Foster 71 68
140 Nico Geyger (Chi) 71 69, Matt Wallace 69 71, Grant Forrest 70 70, Scott Jamieson 69 71, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 70 70, Jason Scrivener (Aus) 70 70, Seung-su Han (USA) 69 71, Scott Hend (Aus) 73 67, Christiaan Bezuidenhout (Rsa) 68 72, Joshua White 67 73, Benjamin Hebert (Fra) 70 70, Nacho Elvira (Spa) 71 69, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 66 74, Soomin Lee (Kor) 72 68, Pontus Widegren (Swe) 73 67, Daniel Im (USA) 73 67, Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 71 69, Ashley Chesters 72 68, Matthias Schwab (Aut) 70 70, Jin-ho Choi (Kor) 68 72, Romain Wattel (Fra) 71 69, Chris Hanson 73 67, Paul Lawrie 68 72, Marcel Schneider (Ger) 66 74, Oliver Farr 70 70, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 72 68
141 Maximilian Kieffer (Ger) 70 71, Clement Sordet (Fra) 71 70, Zander Lombard (Rsa) 76 65, Matthew Southgate 69 72, Darren Fichardt (Rsa) 73 68, Henric Sturehed (Swe) 69 72, Shubhankar Sharma (Ind) 69 72, Julian Suri (USA) 74 67, Jordan Smith 68 73
142 Richie Ramsay 72 70, Haydn Porteous (Rsa) 69 73, Daniel Brooks 72 70, Brandon Stone (Rsa) 71 71, Julien Guerrier (Fra) 71 71, Jonathan Thomson 68 74, Josh Geary (Nzl) 70 72, Sam Horsfield 74 68, Thorbjorn Olesen (Den) 71 71, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 73 69, Sam Brazel (Aus) 73 69
143 Lucas Bjerregaard (Den) 68 75, Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 72 71, Matteo Manassero (Ita) 70 73, Mikko Korhonen (Fin) 73 70, Pep Angles (Spa) 73 70, Bradley Neil 72 71, Simon Khan 72 71, Ahmed Baig (a) (Pak) 74 69, Phachara Khongwatmai (Tha) 68 75, Adrien Saddier (Fra) 72 71, Robert Rock 70 73, David Drysdale 68 75, Jeff Winther (Den) 72 71, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 75 68, Jeunghun Wang (Kor) 68 75
144 Gavin Moynihan 77 67, S.S.P Chawrasia (Ind) 73 71, Carlos Pigem (Spa) 70 74
145 Adam Bland (Aus) 73 72, Ahmed Marjan (Mor) 74 71, Charlie Ford 71 74, Connor Syme 71 74
146 Anthony Wall 74 72, Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 70 76, Reece Phillips 73 73, Lasse Jensen (Den) 74 72, Nino Bertasio (Ita) 73 73
147 Laurie Canter 74 73, Ben Evans 75 72
148 Jens Dantorp (Swe) 70 78
149 Tapio Pulkkanen (Fin) 74 75, Lee Slattery 74 75
150 Sean Maisey 72 78, Darren Clarke 76 74, Ross McGowan 72 78
151 Clarke Lutton 75 76
152 Ali Saleh Al Kaabi (a) (Qat) 76 76
153 Shergo Al Kurdi (a) (Jor) 73 80
154 James Heath 74 80
157 Ali Al Shahrani (a) (Qat) 78 79
