Commercial Bank Qatar Masters: Sullivan and Campillo Lead After 36

England’s Andy Sullivan and Spaniard Jorge Campillo lead at the halfway stage of the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters at Education City GC.

The pair both sat in a tie for 3rd after the opening day of the Qatar Masters, and have now posted two rounds of 66 at the par-71 Education City, moving to -10 for the tournament so far.

Campillo went bogey-free through his second round, as he shot 33 on both nines, while the Englishman only has two bogeys across his opening 36 holes this week.

The duo sits a shot clear of the rest of the Qatar Masters field, with five men sat in a tie for 3rd including the Swedish pair of Alexander Björk and Marcus Kinhult, with the former posting a 63, the lowest round of the day, thanks to eight birdies.

Dutchman Joost Luiten, Frenchman Romain Langasque and Englishman Oliver Fisher, the only man to ever card a 59 on the European Tour, are also at -9, one off the lead. The Frenchman had this bit of magic from the fairway bunker at the par-4 11th.

There is then a two-shot gap back to the group in a tie for 8th, which includes three Danes. Overnight leader Nicolai Højgaard posted a level-par round of 71 to stay at -7, while Benjamin Poke and Jeff Winther joined him at that mark, along with the British pair of Jack Senior and Scott Jamieson, and South Africa’s Darren Fichardt.

Thomas Pieters and Lorenzo Gagli both carded 70’s on the second day, but dropped down the leaderboard due to the low scoring on Friday, while reigning champion Justin Harding, who won at Doha GC last year, carded a 67 to move to -5, five shots off the lead.

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Welshman Oliver Farr was the biggest mover in terms of positions in the standings, as his seven-under-par round of 64 saw him make the move from outside the top 115 and into the top 30 for the week so far.

He is joined at -4 by Belgium’s Thomas Detry, Frenchman Antoine Rozner, and Englishman Marcus Armitage among others. Pablo Larrazabal and Gavin Green now sit at -3, having posted under-par rounds to move inside the cut line, which fell at -1 following the second round in Qatar. Last week’s Oman Open winner, Sami Valimaki, just made it inside the cut line at the -1 mark.

There were several big names who did not make it through to the weekend’s action in Qatar, including Germany’s Martin Kaymer, who ended the week at +1. Nicolas Colsaerts, Paul Lawrie, Haotong Li, and Min Woo Lee were also among those who failed to make it through to the final two rounds of the tournament.

Back at the top, and it will be Sullivan and Campillo who will be going head-to-head, alongside Björk, who will be aiming to back up the low round of the week with another solid score on Saturday.

The two leaders have a one-shot lead going into the third round of the tournament at Education City, but will it be one of those leading come to the end of the day’s play, or will one of the chasing pack post an unreachable score?

The final group tees off at 11:25 (GMT+3), with the action beginning in Qatar at 06:50, as Robert Rock and Haydn Porteous kick off the third round.

Leaderboard:

T1 (-10): Andy Sullivan (ENG), Jorge Campillo (ESP)

T3 (-9): Alexander Björk (SWE), Joost Luiten (NED), Marcus Kinhult (SWE), Romain Langasque (FRA), Oliver Fisher (ENG)

Selected Others:

T8 (-7): Benjamin Poke (DEN), Nicolai Højgaard (DEN)

T14 (-6): Thomas Pieters (BEL), Lorenzo Gagli (ITA)

T21 (-5): Justin Harding (RSA), Benjamin Hebert (FRA)

T29 (-4): Oliver Farr (WAL), Thomas Detry (BEL), Antoine Rozner (FRA)

Missed Cut:

T78 (E): Peter Hanson (SWE), Nicolas Colsaerts (BEL), Victor Dubuisson (FRA)

T90 (+`1): Martin Kaymer (GER), Min Woo Lee (AUS), Mike Lorenzo-Vera (FRA)

T99 (+2): Mikko Korhonen (FIN), Guido Migliozzi (ITA), Jack Singh Brar (ENG)

135 (+9): Haotong Li (CHN)