Australian Marcus Fraser enjoys a share of the lead at the halfway point of the Qatar Masters on a day where Spaniard Sergio Garcia carded a bogey-free 66. Garcia, Germany&aposs Martin Kaymer and Marcus Fraser of Australia all posted bogey-free rounds on Thursday to move up alongside Portugal&aposs first-round leader Ricardo Santos at nine under at the top of the leaderboard. Having started the day 23 positions behind Santos, Garcia managed three birdies on the front and back nine respectively to produce a six-under round and take a share of the lead at the halfway point of the European Tour event in Doha. Starting on the back nine at four under, Fraser scored par on every hole from the 10th to the 18th but opened up on the front nine, scoring successive birdies on two occasions to complete a five-under 67. Kaymer also started on the 10th hole at Doha Golf Club, birdying the 13th, 17th, 18th, fifth and eighth on his way to the top of the leaderboard, while Santos had a mixed day and finished with a two-under 70. The 30-year-old Portuguese birdied three of the first four holes but bogeys on the seventh, 11th and 15th saw him fail to build any momentum. Santos, Kaymer, Fraser and Garcia are one shot ahead of five players tied for fifth. South Africa&aposs George Coetzee and Felipe Aguilar of Chile were the biggest movers of the quintet, both scoring five-under 67s to reach eight under alongside Thorbjorn Olesen of Denmark, New Zealand&aposs Michael Campbell and England&aposs Gary Lockerbie. Another five players are a further stroke back on seven under, while world number four Justin Rose is tied for 20th on five under and the world&aposs fifth-ranked player Louis Oosthuizen is on four under, tied for 31st. Apart from Fraser, other Australians to make the cut are Brett Rumford (four under) and Richard Green (three under).
Author: Omnisport