Haydn Barron takes lead with late surge

Haydn Barron shot a bogey-free 67, including tree back-to-back birdies, to close his round and take a two-shot lead at 9-under at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.

“It was a good day. It got off to a bit of a slow start – nine pars in a row at the front – hitting really good shots and playing really well, just the putts were sliding by,” said the Australian.

“Hit one through the green on ten and chipped one close for my first birdie and then felt a little bit of momentum and rolled a couple in coming home there.

“It’s a beast of a golf course. You really got to strike it well, got to be in the fairway and sometimes just got to hit it into the middle of the greens and take your 60-70 footers if you are out of position.

“So it’s definitely a course which requires a bit of wit and some smarts, and luckily (caddie) Matty (Miller) has been good on the bag and we left ourselves some good numbers.”

Fellow Australian Harrison Endycott also got off to a slow start but made his first birdie at the 8th and produced three more to card a bogey-free 68 for a share of second place at 7-under alongside Japan’s Rikuya Hoshino whose own 68 featured two bogeys.

Overnight co-leader Zander Lombard of South Africa closed with a 71 and dropped down into a share of fourth place at 6-under alongside Denmark’s Niklas Nørgaard who made a single bogey for a 70.