Paul Lawrie is back in contention at his favourite hunting ground with the possibility of a historic treble firmly in his sights. Will this exciting prospect play havoc with his normally unflappable mind? The answer will be clear over the next two days at the Doha Golf Club.Over the years, the Scotsman has deservedly earned the reputation of being a solid bad-weather player. And with the wind tipped to blow harder today and tomorrow, it could turn out to be the perfect setting for him to establish another landmark at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.Only two players have won the tournament two times in the event’s 18-year history, and former Open champion Lawrie is one of them—the other being Australian Adam Scott, who’s not playing here.Lawrie, who sat just two shots off the top after Wednesday’s opening round, began from where he left off with a brilliant 66 for an 11-under total which made him the sole leader at the halfway stage of the European Tour event. If he continues the way he’s been playing, the CBQM could well see the first three-time winner of the Mother of Pearl Trophy on Saturday.Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts was one shot back after birdieing his last hole for a 68, while sharing the third spot at nine-under were Spanish star Rafa Cabrera-Bello (68), France’s Gregory Bourdy (68) and England’s Andrew Johnston (69).Sergio Garcia, the 2014 winner, shot up to eight-under after the seven-time Ryder Cup star carded a 66 that included an eagle on 16. Defending champion Branden Grace (67) was tied 11th at seven-under, a horrendous double bogey on the par-3 third spoiling a good day’s work, while South African stars Ernie Els (70) and Louis Oosthuizen (73) were tied for 20th at six-under.The 47-year-old Lawrie, who could also become the tournament’s oldest winner, took advantage of yesterday morning’s calmer conditions to sink seven birdies, with his card blemished by just one bogey.“It was pretty much the same as yesterday, to be honest,” said Lawrie, who has a history of playing well in the wind. “I played nicely tee to green and hit a lot of good shots. I only made one mistake, which was a three-putt from 20 feet at the 15th.”The experienced Scot previously won the event in 1999 and 2012, each year going on to make the Ryder Cup team. Lawrie, who remains best known for his Open Championship win in July 1999, admitted his past success in Doha could help him through the weekend.“It helps when you know you’ve won this tournament twice before. It’s nice to go back to places that you know you can play well on and have done in the past. You see your name on the board a couple of times and you walk past it every day at the range. It all helps,” Lawrie said. “I know there’s still a long way to go, a lot of golf to be played and a lot of top players still up there, but so far, so good.”The Scot birdied the tenth, his first, and 12th to get into a share of the lead but dropped a shot on the 15th. He regained it on the 16th and when another birdie followed on the 18th, he held a one-shot lead. Second-placed Colsaerts was Lawrie’s teammate in the 2012 Ryder Cup and like the Scot, the 33-year-old Belgian is looking for his first European Tour title since that year.Teeing off from the 10th, Colsaerts birdied his par-five opener and bogeyed 14 for a flat first nine. However, an eagle on the par-five first was followed by birdies on five and nine to draw within one of his former Ryder Cup partner.Garcia, 36, made the most significant move among the marquee names. He birdied his opening hole on the tenth, picked up two more shots on the 14th and 15th, then fired an eagle on the 16th. After a run of nine pars, he sank a long birdie putt on the eighth to end a solid round.Earlier, Bourdy made history when he recorded the first hole-in-one on the par-3 eighth hole. The 33-year-old had made seven straight pars in the morning but that six-iron ace helped him turn in at 34. He gave a shot back on the 10th but quickly regained it on the 11th and further gains on the 14th and 16th helped him sign out on 68.As many as nine players are on seven under, including defending champion Grace. The South African had shared the lead with birdies on the tenth, 14th, 18th and first added to an eagle at the 16th. A double bogey after seeing his second shot bounce back behind him on the third stalled his progress before he closed with a birdie on the ninth.Leading Scores133: Paul Lawrie (SCO) 67+66134: Nicolas Colsaerts (BEL) 66+68135: Andrew Johnston 66+69, Gregory Bourdy (FRA) 67+68, Rafael Cabrera-Bello (ESP) 67+68136: Tommy Fleetwood 67+69, Sergio Garcia (ESP) 70+66, Thorbjorn Olesen (DEN) 67+69, Pelle Edberg (SWE) 70+66, Johan Carlsson (Swe) 69+67 137: Jens Fahrbring (SWE) 69+68, Maximilian Kieffer (GER) 69+68, Kristoffer Broberg (SWE) 67+70, Joost Luiten (NED) 70+67, Jorge Campillo (ESP) 69+68, Branden Grace (RSA) 70+67, George Coetzee (RSA) 67+70, Pablo Larrazabal (ESP) 65+72, Brett Rumford (AUS) 68+69138: Ricardo Gouveia (POR) 67+71, Lucas Bjerregaard (DEN) 68+70, Alex Noren (SWE) 69+69, Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) 65+73, Lee Slattery 69+69, Robert Rock 68+70, Ernie Els (RSA) 68+70, Bernd Wiesberger (AUT) 68+70, Gregory Havret (FRA) 71+67, Bradley Dredge 71+67TEE TIMES (THIRD ROUND)07:15: Alvaro QUIROS, Andrew DODT07:25: Ashun WU, Joachim B HANSEN, Bryson DECHAMBEAU (AM)07:35: Mike LORENZO-VERA, Thomas PIETERS, David LIPSKY07:45: Niclas FASTH, Scott JAMIESON, Trevor FISHER07:55: Rhys DAVIES, Kiradech APHIBARNRAT, Trevor IMMELMAN08:05: Callum SHINKWIN, Haydn PORTEOUS, Gary STAL08:15: Seve BENSON, Nathan HOLMAN, Cheng JIN (AM)08:25: Renato PARATORE, Peter HANSON, Benjamin HEBERT08:35: Thomas BJØRN, Marc WARREN, Oliver WILSON08:55: Marcus FRASER, Tyrrell HATTON, Richard BLAND09:05: Mikko KORHONEN, Ben EVANS, Marcel SIEM09:15: Joakim LAGERGREN, Thongchai JAIDEE, Clarke LUTTON09:25: Alejandro CAÑIZARES, Brandon STONE, Robert KARLSSON09:35: Roope KAKKO, James MORRISON, Richie RAMSAY09:45: Prom MEESAWAT, Björn ÅKESSON, Søren KJELDSEN09:55: Mikko ILONEN, Louis OOSTHUIZEN, Grégory HAVRET10:05: Ernie ELS, Ricardo GOUVEIA, Robert ROCK10:15: Bradley DREDGE, Bernd WIESBERGER, Lucas BJERREGAARD10:25: Alex NOREN, Lee SLATTERY, Maximilian KIEFFER10:45: Kristoffer BROBERG, Jorge CAMPILLO, George COETZEE10:55: Jens FAHRBRING, Pablo LARRAZÁBAL, Joost LUITEN11:05: Brett RUMFORD, Tommy FLEETWOOD, Branden GRACE11:15: Johan CARLSSON, Sergio GARCIA, Pelle EDBERG11:25: Thorbjørn OLESEN, Andrew JOHNSTON, Rafa CABRERA-BELLO11:35: Paul LAWRIE, Grégory BOURDY, Nicolas COLSAERTS
January 28, 2016 | 10:06 PM