Scotsman Paul Lawrie, revelling under the guidance of new coach Adam Hunter, shot a seven-under-par round of 65 yesterday to take the halfway lead in the Qatar Masters.

Playing in only his second tournament of the year, Lawrie added the 65 to his opening 68 for an 11-under-par total of 133 that gives him a two-stroke lead going into today's third round.

The 30-year-old, rusty when he racked up 13 bogeys in missing the cut in Dubai last week, has been bogey free this week and, remembering that his one previous European Tour victory came when the 1996 Catalan Open was reduced to 36 holes by high winds, asked: "Can we stop it now?"

Lawrie birdied all four par fives and also picked up shots on the fourth, 11th and 206-yard 13th - where England's John Bickerton holed-in-one on his way to a share of second place with Frenchman Jean Van de Velde and Dane Soren Kjeldsen.

Bickerton, who played 10 tournaments in Florida during the winter and won five of them, had a 67. Kjeldsen matched Lawrie's 65 - one outside the course record - while Van de Velde shot a 66.

Ireland's Paul McGinley, who finished joint third in Dubai, brought himself back into contention with a three under par 69. McGinley had seven birdies in his round but bogeyed the first (his 10th) and the fifth before a double at the 12th. McGinley finished strongly, however, with four birdies over the closing five holes. Padraig Harrington is tied on 141 with McGinley after a two under par 70.

Afterwards McGinley was quite upbeat. "I have it all to play for over the last two rounds. The course is wide open with plenty of room and the onus this week is on good iron play and putting. Last week it was all about pin-point accuracy, this week it's power, power, power."

Philip Walton was the only other Irishman to make the cut when he followed his opening 72 with a one under 71. Walton started with a birdie at the 550yard par five first but lost a shot at the third before birdieing the fifth. He then steadied things a little with six pars on the trot before another bogey at the 12th. However, he brought himself back under par with a birdie three at the 16th. "I'm always a slow starter. I've had nearly five months off and this week I'll get four rounds under my belt and I should be right. I want to get back to winning ways," said Walton.

Eamon Darcy and Des Smyth will have the weekend off after failing to make the cut. Darcy shot a three over 75 while Smyth was one shot further down the field after a 76.