The Peninsula
Three-time DP World Tour winner Thomas Aiken made 13 birdies and two bogeys in 31 holes to grab a share of the lead before the second day of the 2023 Commercial Bank Qatar Masters ended prematurely due to fading light, yesterday .
South African Aiken, who entered the competition positioned at 161st on the Race to Dubai Rankings, yesterday notched impressive scores of 69 and 65, securing a 10-under-par total before play was suspended due to lack of light at Doha Golf Club (DGC).
At the end of the day, Aiken shared the lead with Spain’s Santiago Tarrio and New Zealand’s Daniel Hillier who were also at the same 10-under mark, still having six and seven holes left to complete, respectively this morning.
Hillier, the overnight leader, will have a birdie putt and the chance to take the outright lead when he resumes at the 12th today, while Tarrio has six holes left to play.
John Catlin of the US made a flawless 63 with an incredible 14-shot improvement on his opening 77.
Notable names such as Ryder Cup winner Robert MacIntyre, Edoardo Molinari, and defending champion Ewen Ferguson were close behind, sitting comfortably at nine-under-par.
“I played really solid today. We had 31 holes to play, so it was a long day. Early wake-up call,” Aiken, who significantly boosted his chances of retaining his DP World Tour card with yesterday’s performance, told the European Tour’s official website.
Commenting on the playing conditions at the picturesque course which received a significant amount of rain the day before, Aiken said: “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,” the 40-year-old Aiken said.
“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 best round of the day came from John Catlin of the US, who made a flawless 63 with an incredible 14-shot improvement on his opening 77.
"It was one of those days where I found a little something before I went out and played, I was just sitting in the lounge thinking about stuff,” Catlin said.
"Haven’t really played my best this year and it was like ‘You know what? Let’s try a little something,’ the American said.
"I tried a little something on the putting green and all of a sudden putts started going in, and because they started going in I started feeling more confident with my irons. Weird how golf is,” Catlin added.
Round two is scheduled to resume at 6:30am today.