Harrington makes cut in 500th start as Patrick Reed chases Qatar triumph
Patrick Reed kept his patience and birdied the last to take a one-stroke lead into the weekend at the Qatar Masters.
The Texan (35) is looking to win for the second time in three starts and climb to the top of the Race to Dubai as he chases one of ten dual memberships of the PGA Tour.
“Honestly, today was a little frustrating, especially early,” Reed said after making a closing seven-footer to lead on 12-under par.
“Ball-striking wasn’t quite as sharp as it was yesterday, but I missed in the right spots today and because of that, I was able still to get balls on greens.”
The former LIV Golf star has a simple game plan now as he looks to follow his win in the Dubai Desert Classic and a play-off defeat in last week’s Bahrain Championship with another victory.
“I’m just going to go in and approach it the same way I always have, try to start at even par with everybody and try to go win the day,” said the former LIV Golf star, who is keen to smooth his return to the PGA Tour by winning one of ten dual cards, improving his status.
“If you can go and win more days than not, you’ll win the tournament at the end of the day.”
Lagergren made four birdies and an eagle at the last to set the pace on 11-under with a 66 after his powerfully built caddie helped him save par at the second by moving large rocks from around his ball when he found the desert with his drive.
“When I came up to the ball, I was just, ‘Okay, this is unplayable’,” Lagergren said. “And then, yes, I asked the referee, ‘Can we move these rocks?’. ‘Yeah, sure, if you can’.
“And obviously I've got a strong caddie, so he sorted it out, so I was able to hit it up on the green.”
Kiwi Daniel Hillier and South African Richard Sterne were tied for third on 10-under while Pádraig Harrington made the cut in his 500th DP World Tour start, making up for four birdies with six birdies in a 70 that left him 37th on three-under.
At the HotelPlanner Tour’s CIRCA Cape Town Open in South Africa, West Waterford’s Gary Hurley fell back to joint 15th on six under after a second round 73.
Hurley (33) opened with a 65 in just his second start after being out for a year with a career-threatening shoulder injury to sit in a seven-way tie for the lead.
He’s now five shots off the lead at Royal Cape, where behind South Africa’s Trevor Fisher Jnr shot 67 to lead by a shot on 12 under from Spain’s Pablo Ereno.
Conor Purcell shot 71 to share 21st on five under with Liam Nolan a shot further back after a 69.
Max Kennedy missed the two-under cut by a shot after a 74, while James Sugrue’s 71 left him three shots outside the mark.
Olivia Mehaffey, meanwhile, finished joint 28th in the Sunshine Ladies Tour’s SuperSport Ladies Challenge after a closing 81 at Humewood, 15 shots behind Germany’s Celina Sattelkau.
