11 March 2021: Consistency is the name of the game at the Education City Golf Club in Doha. The top four men produced twins in the first two rounds, with Jeff Winther taking a two stroke cushion into the weekend. The Dane scored 67 again as he moved to 8-under 134 ahead of Jamie Donaldson, Jack Senior and Darren Fichardt. Those three golfers made 68 in each of their rounds this week. Gaganjeet Bhullar started the day in T10, but a 73 in the second round pushed him down to T33. Shubhankar Sharma climbed 55 spots with a disciplined 68, moving to T23 at the halfway stage of the Qatar Masters.
SSP Chawrasia will miss the cut. He got off to a great start, making three straight birdies from the 12th hole, but followed that streak with two straight double bogeys to slip over par for the day. Chawrasia made four more and a fourth birdie on the second hole for a 75. At 4-over he was well below the cut line, projected to fall at 1-over.
Bhullar packed all the action into the first nine. He shot three bogeys and a lone birdie as he made it past the bend in 38 strokes. Bruised but not beaten, Bhullar played with calm determination, riding home on nine straight pars for a 73.
Shubhankar got a couple of birdies early in his round but bogeys at the 6th and 8th holes erased his gains even before he made the turn. Undeterred, Shubhankar produced three birdies in six holes from the tenth to push himself up the order.
Winther was even through the front nine with a birdie and a bogey. But he gained traction on the home stretch, picking up four birdies to account for his 67, the second one this week.
“I love coming back here. I have good memories from last year even though two guys knocked me out. I really like this course – it’s great to play and the conditions are fantastic. I haven’t played for three weeks, but coming out here is fantastic,” said Winther.
“The greens are very nice. I don’t want to jinx myself but I think they are easy to putt on. They are very true. The condition is the same as last year, it’s beautiful.
“The wind is quite severe now. We were lucky. On the last three or four holes it was really starting to pick up. Playing around 15-20 yards further, you’ve got to be on your game.”
Guido Migliozzi was the only other golfer to muster a 67 on Friday. The second round was suspended due to inclement weather, with the unfinished rounds set to be completed during the morning hours on Saturday.
