Australia’s Brett Rumford moved into a one shot lead on the second morning of the Commercialbank Qatar Masters presented by Dolphin Energy after taking advantage of calm morning conditions in Doha.
After finishing down the order in Abu Dhabi last week, Rumford picked up four shots over his opening eight holes to progress to seven under par overall.
South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel, who posted back-to-back wins on home soil at the start of the season, moved into second place courtesy of an eagle two at the fourth.
The Africa Open and Joburg Open winner picked up two shots over his opening 12 holes after starting on the back nine.
He then threw in a bogey before holing a pitch from 122 yards on the short par four fourth at Doha Golf Club having taken a three wood off the tee.
Race to Dubai winner Lee Westwood and Swedish duo Peter Hanson and Niclas Fasth joined overnight leaders Oliver Wilson and Bradley Dredge at five under.
Despite conditions easing following a windswept first round, which saw only 24 of the 126-man field break par, the scoring did not significantly improve, with the majority of the field still over par.
Dredge had briefly claimed the outright lead with a birdie at the first hole of the day but slipped back into the pack after handing the shot back at the long par three third to reach the turn in level par for his round.
Wilson started his round with 12 consecutive pars, while World Number Four Westwood reached the turn in 35.