By GolfDigestME.com
Darren Fichardt and Jeff Winther made late charges up the leaderboard to join Oliver Bekker at the summit after day one of the inaugural Catalunya Championship.

In-form South African Bekker had set the target at six-under with a 66 and as the wind got up in the afternoon, it did not look like he would be caught at PGA Catalunya Golf and Wellness.

But countryman Fichardt reeled off six birdies in eight holes after the turn to pass him, only for a double-bogey on the last to drop him back alongside Bekker and Dane Winther, who made four birdies in five holes from the 11th over the recently upgraded Stadium Course.

German Sebastian Heisele, China’s Li Haotong and Englishman James Morrison are one shot off the lead at five under, with home favourite and Dubai resident Adri Arnaus, French duo Julien Brun and Jean-Baptiste Gonnet, South African Hennie du Plessis and Austrian Lukas Nemecz at four-under.

The Catalunya Championship started with a special moment, when Antonio Garrido, winner of the first ever DP World Tour event, hit the honorary tee shot. The 78-year-old won the 1972 Open de España at nearby Golf de Pals and returned to Girona as part of the Tour’s 50th anniversary celebrations.

“I played solid, hit a lot of fairways – you have to out here,” said Winther. “Had lovely iron shots here and there and made a few good putts, so can’t complain.

“It’s very important just to keep your game flowing, keep thinking positive, because you have a lot of chances if you hit the fairways. The greens are still a bit soft so you can spin them out quite easily.

“The last two weeks in Spain have been, course-wise, phenomenal, the best we’ve played in a while. The greens are lovely, the fairways are really good and the rough is mean. It’s just the way it should be, in my opinion.

Fichardt added: “I played really solid, I know is a tough golf course, you have to keep the ball in play off the tee and make sure you get chances. The front nine I just really played solid, I made two good birdies and then I putted great in the back nine, which was nice. Managed to hole really good putts, managed to get momentum and unfortunately didn’t do so well in the last one but if you gave me a 66 before I started I would have taken it.

Garrido was feeing the pressure as he stepped on to the first tee.

“I feel different, I was less nervous then (winning in 1972) than I am now,” he admitted. “In those moments you are not thinking about the future in 50 years, at that moment you are in another moment of life, and I could never think that that could lead us to this moment (celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Tour).

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The post Fichardt and Winther join Bekker at top of Catalunya leaderboard appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
The field were a collective 28-under par in the first round of the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters. After a breezy Friday at Education Golf City, the field blew out to a combined 226-over par for the second round. When Mother Nature and golf get together, well, good luck.

Jeff Winther was one of the few to emerge with flying colours from the tee to green challenge, thanks a little to the luck of an early tee time and a lot to excellent golf. A second-round 67 took the 32-year-old Dane to eight under and the halfway lead in Doha by two strokes from five players: 2014 Ryder Cup hero Jamie Donaldson, former Oman Open champion Kurt Kitayama, Finn Kalle Samooja, South African Darren Fichardt and Englishman Jack Senior.

“I love coming back here,” said Winther who finished T-3 at Education City G.C. last year, missing by a stroke an epic five-hole playoff between Spaniard Jorge Campillo and Scot David Drysdale that Campillo eventually won.

“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.

“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.”

.@JeffWinther takes the lead in Qatar #QatarMasters | @Workday

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) March 12, 2021

Beautiful wasn’t a word Winther’s rivals on the opposite side of the start sheet would have used. Brutal perhaps better summed up Friday afternoon.

The wind is gusting between 20-30mph for the afternoon starters.#QatarMasters pic.twitter.com/TbtDjt7ekB

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) March 12, 2021

For further proof of Friday’s field wide frustrations, note that Englishman Chris Wood achieved an incredible feat:

Proof that conditions are tough.@Chris3Wood is the only player bogey-free today.#QatarMasters pic.twitter.com/9aTKjiulpq

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) March 12, 2021

Or how about this incredible stat:

12/18 holes today are now playing over par. ?#QatarMasters pic.twitter.com/ZziLFWK5gl

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) March 12, 2021

Former Ryder Cupper Thomas Pieters was among a group of eight layers at five under, three shots behind Winther, when play was suspended at 17.40 due to fading light.

The Belgian is firmly in contention following rounds of 68-69.

Round Two Scores:
134: J WINTHER (DEN) 67 67,
136: J DONALDSON (WAL) 68 68, J SENIOR (ENG) 68 68, D FICHARDT (RSA) 68 68, K SAMOOJA (FIN) 65 71, K KITAYAMA (USA) 67 69,
137: B STONE (RSA) 69 68, N BERTASIO (ITA) 65 72, C PAISLEY (ENG) 67 70, J HANSEN (DEN) 66 71, F ZANOTTI (PAR) 67 70, T PIETERS (BEL) 68 69, M PAVON (FRA) 68 69, G HIGGO (RSA) 66 71,
138: C SHINKWIN (ENG) 70 68, G MIGLIOZZI (ITA) 71 67, T DETRY (BEL) 66 72, J SURI (USA) 70 68, S JAMIESON (SCO) 67 71, L GAGLI (ITA) 68 70, R MCEVOY (ENG) 65 73,
139:  H DU PLESSIS (RSA) 65 74, R JACQUELIN (FRA) 70 69, J JANEWATTANANOND (THA) 69 70, S NORRIS (RSA) 69 70, D LAW (SCO) 64 75, S SHARMA (IND) 71 68, G FDEZ-CASTA?O (ESP) 69 70, G FORREST (SCO) 71 68,
140: J CATLIN (USA) 70 70, G BHULLAR (IND) 67 73, E PEPPERELL (ENG) 69 71, D WHITNELL (ENG) 68 72, R LANGASQUE (FRA) 70 70, W NIENABER (RSA) 69 71,
141: J CAMPILLO (ESP) 67 74, C WOOD (ENG) 73 68, W BESSELING (NED) 72 69, M ARMITAGE (ENG) 69 72, Y CHANG (KOR) 70 71, A BJ?RK (SWE) 68 73, P FIGUEIREDO (POR) 67 74, A ROZNER (FRA) 69 72, F LAPORTA (ITA) 68 73, L VAN MEIJEL (NED) 69 72, M ANTCLIFF (AUS) 69 72, S CROCKER (USA) 68 73,
142: A CA?IZARES (ESP) 73 69, N LEMKE (SWE) 70 72, R SANTOS (POR) 71 71, A CHESTERS (ENG) 72 70, T TREE (ENG) 67 75, D DRYSDALE (SCO) 70 72, N ELVIRA (ESP) 69 73, M SCHWAB (AUT) 71 71, M KIEFFER (GER) 67 75,
143: J WALTERS (RSA) 73 70, R ENOCH (WAL) 69 74, D COUPLAND (ENG) 69 74, J SMITH (ENG) 69 74, S BROWN (ENG) 69 74, R RAMSAY (SCO) 69 74, M KINHULT (SWE) 70 73, B HEBERT (FRA) 71 72, A SULLIVAN (ENG) 69 74, A LEVY (FRA) 71 72,
144: S AL KURDI (AM) (JOR) 68 76, D VAN DRIEL (NED) 70 74, E MOLINARI (ITA) 69 75, A MERONK (POL) 72 72, J LUITEN (NED) 69 75,
145: G HAVRET (FRA) 70 75, P LARRAZ?BAL (ESP) 72 73, Z LOMBARD (RSA) 73 72, J MORRISON (ENG) 75 70, S GALLACHER (SCO) 70 75, K MOON (KOR) 70 75, W ORMSBY (AUS) 69 76, L CANTER (ENG) 71 74, G COETZEE (RSA) 67 78, A RAI (ENG) 73 72, A OTAEGUI (ESP) 69 76, J CALDWELL (NIR) 75 70, S SODERBERG (SWE) 73 72, S CHAWRASIA (IND) 70 75, S KJELDSEN (DEN) 72 73, B POKE (DEN) 71 74,
146: L BJERREGAARD (DEN) 77 69, H LI (CHN) 71 75, S HEND (AUS) 74 72, R H?JGAARD (DEN) 74 72, S GARCIA RODRIGUEZ (ESP) 69 77, R BLAND (ENG) 70 76, H PORTEOUS (RSA) 74 72, A LGUIRATI (MAR) 75 71, S HEISELE (GER) 70 76, M KAWAMURA (JPN) 72 74, O WILSON (ENG) 71 75, G PORTEOUS (ENG) 69 77,
147: C HILL (SCO) 72 75, T LEE (KOR) 75 72, D HOWELL (ENG) 73 74, J HARDING (RSA) 70 77, A COCKERILL (CAN) 73 74, R ROUSSEL (FRA) 73 74, S KIM (USA) 76 71,
148: R MCGOWAN (ENG) 70 78, S AL KAABI (AM) (QAT) 73 75, N COLSAERTS (BEL) 71 77, J STALTER (FRA) 73 75, T PULKKANEN (FIN) 75 73,
149: K REITAN (NOR) 74 75, D HUIZING (NED) 77 72,
150: R FISHER (ENG) 76 74, A QUIROS (ESP) 76 74, L SLATTERY (ENG) 75 75, R KARLBERG (SWE) 70 80,
151: O FARR (WAL) 73 78, G GREEN (MAS) 72 79,
152: J GONNET (FRA) 75 77, P DUNNE (IRL) 74 78,
153: C PIGEM (ESP) 78 75, R SCIOT-SIEGRIST (FRA) 75 78, R JORDAAN (AM) (RSA) 76 77, A SADDIER (FRA) 75 78,
154: O FISHER (ENG) 78 76,
156: R PARATORE (ITA) 78 78,
166: A AL-SHAHRANI (AM) (QAT) 82 84,
**
Still to complete second round:
66: J LAGERGREN (SWE) 66 ,
68: L DE JAGER (RSA) 68 ,
69: C SYME (SCO) 69 ,
70: C SHARVIN (NIR) 70 ,
71: B RITTHAMMER (GER) 71 , C SORDET (FRA) 71 , J VEERMAN (USA) 71 ,
72: R ROCK (ENG) 72 ,
73: M SOUTHGATE (ENG) 73 ,
74: D BURMESTER (RSA) 74 , E FERGUSON (SCO) 74 ,
79: J JASSIM AL KUWARI (AM) (QAT) 79 ,
**
OUT: M JORDAN (ENG) 74 WD, A ARNAUS (ESP) 70 RT, M WARREN (SCO) 77 WD.

The post Dane Jeff Winther leads by two after windy, wild Friday in Doha appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.