Darren Fichardt carded a solid second-round 68 on Friday to move up to a share of second place at the Qatar Masters in Doha.
The 45-year-old, who is a previous champion at the event with his victory back in 2003, rolled in three birdies, one eagle and dropped two shots throughout his display on Friday.
It saw Fichardt sign off on three under for the day, moving up to six under for the week ahead of the weekend’s action on the European Tour. He will start moving day two shots behind leader Jeff Winther, who is on eight under.
Compleat Golfer‘s playing editor Brandon Stone also enjoyed a decent day out at the Education City Golf Club and was one of the early players in the field for the round.
READ: Du Plessis, Higgo make strong start in Qatar
With a gusty wind hampering players’ efforts throughout the afternoon, Stone capitalised on the firmer morning conditions.
He signed off with a second-round three-under-par 68 to climb up the leaderboard to T7 where he is placed on five under. Stone is joined by Garrick Higgo, who remained on five under for his week, after shooting an even par round.
After a brilliant start on Thursday, Hennie du Plessis dropped three strokes during his Friday display, which unfortunately slumped him down three under par in T23.
Shaun Norris and Louis de Jager are both also placed on three under, although De Jager was unable to complete his second round due to darkness.
Wilco Nienaber also went even for the day and is still placed on two under, while Justin Walters narrowly made the cut on one over par.
Zander Lombard (+3), George Coetzee (+3), Haydn Porteous (+4), Justin Harding (+5) and amateur Ruan Jordaan (+11) all missed the cut for the weekend, while Dean Burmester retired on Thursday.
