GOLF: Louis Oosthuizen snatched the halfway lead at the Qatar Masters from former champion Andrew Coltart after the South African blitzed a flawless second-round seven-under-par 65 today.
With 1998 champion Coltart in the clubhouse on nine-under-par following a solid three-under 69, Abu Dhabi runner-up Oosthuizen battled early afternoon rain to reach the turn in three-under before taking advantage of calming conditions to move onto 12-under-par and establish a three-shot lead over the Scot.
Damien McGrane continued his move up the leaderboard, with a second straight round of three-under 69 moving him into a tie for sixth spot, six strokes behind Oosthuizen.
Miguel Angel Jimenez, who held the overnight lead with Coltart and another former champion Henrik Stenson, was satisfied with a one-under 71 but sits five adrift in fourth. Stenson’s level-par 72 left him alongside McGrane on six-under.
Portugal Masters champion Alvaro Quiros leapt up the leaderboard and into third place with a five-under 67 which included a hat-trick of birdies to finish from the young Spaniard.
He is joined at eight-under by Australia’s Brett Rumford who signed for a solid 69 which included just a solitary bogey.
Oosthuizen, winner of the Irish Amateur Open title back in 2002, picked up a first shot of the second round at the 452-yard par-four fifth before blazing around the turn with four birdies in five holes.
Back-to-back birdies from the 15th quickly followed to put the the 26-year-old well in the hunt for a maiden European Tour breakthrough.
“I would have definitely taken a three-shot lead after the second round. I am playing well and I am very happy,” said Oosthuizen, who started the year with a 10th-placed finish at the Joburg Open.
“It’s always a nice confidence boost to play well the week before and that second spot was very close to a play-off. It was nice bringing that form to Qatar and I am very happy.”
Gary Murphy made the cut on two-under after his second straight 71, while Rory McIlroy showed great determination to come back from a nightmare opening round to make the weekend right on the mark.
The 19-year-old Holywood ace carded two double-bogeys on his back nine yesterday on his way to a four-over 76. Four birdies in his first 10 holes of his second round got him back to level, only to drop shots on 12th and 14th.
Needing a strong finish, McIlroy showed just why he has stormed up to 35th spot in the world rankings by finishing with back-to-back birdies to move back to level par.
Darren Clarke could only manage a second straight 73 to miss the cut, with Peter Lawrie also losing out after a second round of three-over 75. Paul McGinley will also have the weekend off after a level-par round of 72 left him on four-over.
There were plenty of big name casualties with American Ryder Cup winner Boo Weekley (73), Abu Dhabi winner Paul Casey (69), Justin Rose (72) and Colin Montgomerie (75) all missing the cut.
SCOREBOARD
(Ireland and Britain unless stated, par 72)
132Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 67 65
135Andrew Coltart 66 69
136Brett Rumford (Aus) 67 69, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 69 67
137Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 66 71
138Rodney Pampling (Aus) 70 68,
Damien McGrane 69 69, Chapchai Nirat (Tha) 69 69, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 68 70, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 66 72, Paul Broadhurst 68 70
139Anders Hansen (Den) 67 72, Ross McGowan 73 66, Johan Edfors (Swe) 72 67, Andrew McLardy (Rsa) 70 69
140Sergio Garcia (Spa) 70 70, Robert Dinwiddie 67 73, Nick Dougherty 68 72, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 69 71, Anthony Wall 70 70, Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 68 72, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 68 72, Richard Finch 73 67, Lee Westwood 67 73
141Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 69 72, Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 70 71, Peter Hanson (Swe) 72 69, Stephen Gallacher 72 69, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 70 71, Ernie Els (Rsa) 70 71, Markus Brier (Aut) 70 71, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa) 69 72, Thomas Levet (Fra) 71 70, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 71 70, Bradley Dredge 74 67
142Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 70 72, Francesco Molinari (Ita) 72 70, Hennie Otto (Rsa) 73 69, Ross Fisher 71 71, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 71 71, Oliver Wilson 69 73, David Howell 71 71, Simon Dyson 72 70,
Gary Murphy 71 71, Stephen Dodd 70 72, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 69 73
143Mikael Lundberg (Swe) 72 71, Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 71 72, Steve Webster 72 71, Adam Scott (Aus) 73 70, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 68 75, Soren Hansen (Den) 72 71, Scott Strange (Aus) 72 71, Joakim Haeggman (Swe) 73 70, Marcel Siem (Ger) 72 71, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 71 72, Alexander Noren (Swe) 72 71, Paul Lawrie 72 71, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 70 73, Jamie Donaldson 70 73
144Alvaro Velasco (Spa) 76 68, Danny Willett 73 71, Mads Vibe Hastrup (Den) 73 71, Graeme Storm 72 72, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 73 71, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 71 73,
Rory McIlroy 76 68,Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 71 73, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 73 71
MISSED CUT
145David Lynn 70 75, Mark Brown (USA) 72 73, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 75 70, Seve Benson 70 75, Paul Casey 76 69, Rolf Muntz (Ned) 72 73, Alastair Forsyth 75 70, Phillip Archer 71 74, Richard Green (Aus) 73 72, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 74 71, Mark Foster 73 72, Brandt Snedeker (USA) 72 73, Gregory Havret (Fra) 71 74;
146Christian Cevaer (Fra) 77 69, Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 72 74, James Kingston (Rsa) 74 72, Colin Montgomerie 71 75, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 75 71,
Darren Clarke 73 73, Oliver Fisher 71 75, Justin Rose 74 72, David Dixon 70 76, Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 72 74;
147Anton Haig (Rsa) 71 76, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 72 75, Per-Ulrik Johansson (Swe) 74 73, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 74 73, Scott Drummond 75 72,
Peter Lawrie 72 75, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 76 71, Boo Weekley (USA) 74 73;
148Shiv Kapur (Ind) 72 76,
Paul McGinley 76 72;
149Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 74 75, Lee Slattery 75 74, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind) 75 74, John Bickerton 73 76, Kenneth Ferrie 75 74;
150Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 74 76, Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 76 74, Rafael Echenique (Arg) 77 73, Simon Wakefield 78 72;
151Ariel Canete (Arg) 77 74, Simon Hurd 77 74;
152Gary Orr 78 74; 153 Michael Jonzon (Swe) 76 77;
154Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 71 83;
155Miles Tunnicliff 78 77;
160Max Williams 81 79
