The South African headed to Qatar way down in 161st on the Race to Dubai Rankings, and is halfway to delivering the huge week he needs to stay on the DP World Tour.

The 40-year-old followed up his Thursday/Friday 69 with a second-round 65 at Doha Golf Club following a quick turnaround.

He leads alongside Daniel Hillier and Santiago Tarrio on 10-under, who have seven and six holes still to play on Saturday morning in their second round respectively.

Play was suspended due to fading light at 4.58pm local time.

Scots Robert MacIntyre and Ewen Ferguson — the defending champion — were a shot further back after nine holes of their second rounds, alongside Edoardo Molinari, who has seven holes remaining.

“I played really solid today,” Aiken said. “We had 31 holes to play, so it was a long day. Early wake-up call.

“It’s a course that I like, I’ve always played well here in the past. Unfortunately with the rain yesterday it got a little wet, normally it plays firm and fast, which is what I like.

“Hopefully it dries up over the weekend and starts playing more like that. But I played really solid. It’s tough competing against these youngsters these days — they hit it so far.

“It’s getting a little tougher to play in your forties, but I still feel like I can win out here. I just need the right golf course.

“Unfortunately I haven’t been able to pick and choose my courses this year. I’ve played a lot of courses I would normally not play, but this is definitely one where I’ve always done well in the past. It’s proving evident, so hopefully the form continues over the next two rounds.”

The post Thomas Aiken shares lead after marathon day at Qatar Masters appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Ryan Herrington
Thorbjorn Olesen’s final-round 67 wasn’t enough to earn him the title at the European Tour’s Nordea Masters on Sunday (congrats to Paul Waring, a playoff winner over Thomas Aiken). But Olesen’s fourth-place finish, with four sub-70 rounds, did push the 28-year-old from Denmark into position to grab an automatic qualifying spot for the Ryder Cup team.

Olesen is projected to move into the fourth and final spot on the World Points list that’s used to help fill out the European team that will play next month in Paris, moving past Ian Poulter and Paul Casey. He is also less than €40,000 back of Tommy Fleetwood for the final spot in the European points list.

European captain Thomas Bjorn, a fellow Dane, is close friends with Olesen and has indicated he would prefer that his countryman qualify automatically rather than require a captain’s pick and bring their friendship into the equation. Olesen is trying to oblige, having posted a win at the Italian Open in June, a runner -up at the BMW International and four top-12 finishes in his last five starts.

“I’ve been playing great for three or four months so that will probably add a bit more pressure [on Bjorn], but if I can keep grinding and working like I did this week and last week to get better the results will come,” Olesen said.

Team Europe’s automatic picks will be decided in two weeks after the European Tour’s Made in Denmark tournament, in which Olesen is scheduled to compete. “There’s always a lot of pressure when we play in Denmark and probably a little bit extra this time,” he said.

Poulter and Casey, meanwhile, will be playing in next week’s Northern Trust, the first of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup playoff events. Good performances will allow them both to also compete in the BMW Championship before European qualifying closes.

The post Thorbjorn Olesen in, Ian Poulter out in latest European Ryder Cup standings appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The 38-year-old English fashion model and television personality will be joined by cricketers Brian Lara and Ricky Ponting, former Springboks rugby legend Victor Matfield, Boyzlife pop stars Keith Duffy and Brian McFadden and Emirati comedian Ali Al Sayed at Saadiyat Beach Golf Club on February 6.

Nine-time major champion Player will again host the charity Pro-Am which aims to raise funds for the Zayed Higher Organisation for Humanitarian Care & Special Needs.

Former Open champion and European Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke joins Chris Wood, Joost Luiten, Victor Dubuisson, Jason Scrivener, David Howell and South Africans Thomas Aiken and Trevor Immelman as confirmed European Tour starters.

Scotland-based U.S. Ladies European Tour pro Beth Allen, who won last year’s inaugural Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Open at Saadiyat Beach GC headlines a strong female lineup including course record holder Georgia Hall, Caroline Martens, Emma Cabrera-Bello and Victoria Lovelady.

The United Arab Emirates’ ‘Year of Giving’ is set to get a significant boost with the announcement of the star-studded line-up.

Darren Clarke in action during the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship – Photographs by Getty Images

Held in conjunction with the Abu Dhabi Sports Council, under the Patronage of His Excellency Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, the 2017 Gary Player Invitational joins five other global events in a series that together has helped The Player Foundation raise more than $62 million for charities worldwide. Widely recognised as the world’s leading charity golf series, The Player Foundation is working towards its goal of raising $100 million by 2025.

“Abu Dhabi’s hosting of the second annual Gary Player Invitational highlights not only Abu Dhabi’s strong position as a world-class sporting destination, but also the spirit of generosity that the UAE is known for,” said His Excellency Aref Al Awani, General Secretary of the Abu Dhabi Sports Council.

“Bringing professional golfers, sporting legends and celebrities together with golfing legend Gary Player, and members of the business community, the Pro-Am event complements Abu Dhabi’s robust calendar of world-class events, as it also supports our growing sporting culture and importantly, the vital work of the Zayed Higher Organisation for Humanitarian Care & Special Needs.”

Player, the course designer at Saadiyat Beach GC, will host a pre Pro-Am skills clinic from 11am on February 6. The clinic and Pro-Am are open to the public.

“Saadiyat Beach Golf Club is one of the most engaging courses in the world and the ideal location to host the mix of professional golfers, sporting greats and special guests during this year’s event in Abu Dhabi.

“It is especially significant to host this event during the UAE’s Year of Giving and thanks to the support of the Abu Dhabi Sport Council, facility owner, TDIC and the wider UAE community, we are able to build upon the work of the inaugural event in 2016 and move even closer to reaching our goal of raising $100 million for children by 2025. I know that all participants will have great fun in support of an even greater cause.”

A gala dinner at the five-star Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi on February 5 will kick-start the Invitational while players can also look forward to a traditional South African Braai (BBQ) after play.

www.garyplayerinvitational.com

The post Jodie Kidd to tee it up in <br> Gary Player Invitational <br> at Saadiyat Beach appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Welshman Bradley Dredge, who carded an even par 72 following a sizzling opening 64, held onto his overnight lead but now has eight players for company at the summit on -8.

There was a nine-way tie for the first-round lead at The Celtic Manor Wales Open in 1997 but never before in European Tour history have nine players shared the lead after 36-holes.

Another seven players are a shot adrift and with the cut made at -2, 70 players in total have made the weekend at Doha Golf Club. Each and every one of them is a genuine chance in the filling event of the European Tour’s tasty Desert Swing sandwich.

Koren Jeunghun Wang, a two-time winner last season and the European Tour’s Rookie-of-the-Year, and Spaniard Jorge Campillo made the biggest impression on the leaderboard Friday with second round 67s seeing them leapfrog 28 places into a share of the lead.

Also tied at the top are Englishman Andy Sullivan (68), Spaniard Nacho Elvira (69), Finn Mikko Orhonen (71), Thai Kiradech Aphibarnrat (70, pictured above) and South Africans Jaco Van Zyl (69) and Thomas Aiken (68).

A @EuropeanTour first…

We have a nine (yes nine!) way tie for the lead after 36 holes. pic.twitter.com/fQYjKI6K1U

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) January 27, 2017

Among those to make the cut was Englishman Chris Paisley whose luck turned on the 17th hole when he sucked a 9 iron into the cup on the 135-yard par 3.

Paisley scored $150,000 from Qatar Duty Free for the ace and eased into the weekend at -3 after rounds of 74-67.

Ace!@ChrisPaisley86 makes a hole-in-one from 135 yards at the 17th! pic.twitter.com/ml3Ga62UD9

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) January 27, 2017

“I was in between a wedge and a nine-iron, and decided to go with a little nine-iron. I just hit it perfectly and when it landed, I said, ‘go in’, and it did, so I’m just delighted,” said Paisley, who also birdied 18 for a tournament-changing 67.

“It was a great feeling, but strange, as I went 27 holes this week without making a birdie and was three-over-par, struggling to make the cut. All of a sudden I made a couple of birdies and had a hole-in-one and I was inside the cut mark. I suppose it shows you…never give up!”

Paisley joins Jarrod Lyle and Van Zyl as the only players to make an ace in the 2017 Race to Dubai so far.  It was his fifth ace but first on the European Tour and the 10th in the 20 editions of the Qatar Masters. He is the first to do so on the 17th hole since Warren Bennett 12 years ago.

Tommy Fleetwood was among the big names to miss the cut with rounds of 73-73 a week after capturing the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. Other notable names with the weekend off are Matteo Manaserro, Thongchai Jaidee (both -1) and Stephen Gallagher at +2 alongside Fleetwood.

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