International Series Qatar Uihlein embraces wind to take halfway lead at DGC

On a windy day in Doha on Thursday, Peter Uihlein held things together well enough to sign for an eight-under-par 64 in the second round of the US$2.5mn International Series Qatar.An eagle on the short par-4 16th, seven birdies, and a solitary bogey helped him take the halfway lead at the Doha Golf Club (DGC).Uihlein shot a brilliant eight-under-par 64 to take the halfway lead – embracing the windy conditions that replaced the calmness of the opening day.The American is 12-under leads by two from compatriot Zach Bauchou, who carded 68. First-round leader Ian Snyman from South Africa is in third, a shot further back, following a 70."It was hard,” said the 35-year-old, about the conditions."I mean, when it gets windy. It’s fun though. I enjoy it. Kind of shapes the shots for you a little bit. I enjoy it."I definitely prefer when the wind picks up.”Former Masters champion South African Charl Schwartzel (65), Spain’s Luis Masaveu (69) and David Puig (70) plus Miguel Tabuena (68) from the Philippines sit tied fourth, four behind the leader.Louis Oosthuizen, 2010 Open Championship, is five back, while last week’s Hong Kong Open winner Patrick Reed is six back heading into the final two rounds alongside Dean Burmester, Brendan Steele and Eugenio Chacarra, who last week said he is hoping to find a new team after being dropped from Sergio Garcia’s Fireballs GC.American Uihlein won the International Series England in August for his maiden victory on the Asian Tour and The International Series. He nearly followed that up with a win at the International Series Thailand but finished second after letting a two-shot lead slip on the last, and has unfinished business this week.The race to win the Asian Tour Order of Merit continues to gain momentum. LIV Golf reserve player John Catlin remains in the pole position, but at one point in Round 2 he looked like he would miss the cut for the second week in a row. But Catlin shot 73 to put himself into the weekend. His nearest challenger, Richard T. Lee from Canada, is 3-under after a 72.Lee or Ben Campbell, also a LIV Golf reserve player who is 4-under through two rounds this week, need to win this week to have a chance of surpassing Catlin’s 3,030.06 points on the Merit list and also need to finish solo second next week. That scenario also needs Catlin to finish at the bottom of the leaderboard both weeks, so the American remains on course to win the title for the first time.Catlin also leads The International Series Rankings, but that battle is wide open.Schwartzel, whose most recent victory was the LIV Golf Invitational in 2022 – LIV Golf’s first-ever event – began on the back nine and made a brilliant start by making birdie on the first hole before holing out for an eagle on the par-4 11th.He dropped his only shot of the day on the 14th but made a jump on the leaderboard with five more birdies. "Yeah, that was quite a surprise,” said the 2011 Masters champion."Struggled with my driver a bit yesterday and with this wind I was a bit worried. I actually drove it well and got off to that fantastic start and played solid from there, all the way in.”Schwartzel has registered some strong performances on the LIV Golf League this season, tying for second in Jeddah and finishing tied for third in Adelaide, and would no doubt love to finish the year with a win."With me it’s always rhythm,” Schwartzel said. "I get all quick, just tried to keep it smooth today and did a good job of it.”South African Snyman was unable to repeat his brilliant first-round 65 but was delighted with his round in much more difficult conditions that he felt played four shots harder."This is probably one of my best rounds I would say, on the Asian Tour. Hit it really good, hit lots of fairways, which is great in these conditions. Hit lots of greens, made some great putts. One bogey, I mean, I think that basically says it, it was a solid round of golf,” Snyman said."Shot wise compared to yesterday, probably about four shots I would say, that would be my guess. It was just a guessing game out there, and yeah, I managed to guess most of them correctly. Even putting you had to take the wind into account.”The International Series Rankings, which will see the champion earn a place on next year’s LIV Golf League, will go down to the wire at next week’s $5mn PIF Saudi International.