Patrick Reed led at the halfway point of the 2026 Qatar Masters after a closing birdie on day two.
Reed spent the latter stages of his round sharing top spot with Joakim Lagergren, whose eventful 66 took him to 11 under par, but holed a seven-footer for his third birdie in the final five holes to pull ahead at 12 under.
The American made just two birdies on the front nine but took advantage of the par-five tenth for the second consecutive day and his gains at the 14th, 16th and 18th more than offset a bogey at the 15th.
Despite a 67 to follow his opening 65, Reed said: “Honestly, today was a little frustrating, especially early.
“Didn’t hit my first fairway until six, finally had a little bit of a celebration there for hitting the fairway and next thing you know I go and birdie the hole.
“Ball-striking wasn’t quite as sharp as it was yesterday but I missed in the right spots today and because of that I was able still to get balls on greens. Going round this place and feeling like you didn’t hit it quite as well as you wanted to, and hit 17 greens is always a positive.
"I unfortunately had the opposite shot going to what I was trying to hit early in that round. Because of that there was a little bit more stress but it definitely showed that as long as you do your homework, figure out where you can miss it on this golf course, you still have an opportunity to go out and shoot a number.
“I was able to do that and get myself back up top on the leaderboard, and at the same time feel like I got some confidence on the back nine with how I was able to hit the golf ball."
Lagergren made four birdies and an eagle but the most memorable moment of his round came at the second hole. The Swede's tee-shot landed in a rock formation but with the help of powerful caddie Jesse Karlsson, he was able to move the obstructions and clear a path to the ball to make par.
He finished off in style with a 24-foot putt to pick up two shots at the 18th and spent much of the day at the head of the leaderboard until overhauled late on by Reed.
Lagergren said: “Yeah, it was very good today, very solid, so I'm happy with the day."
Regarding his caddie's rock-shifting exploits, he added: "When I came up to the ball, I was like, ‘I can't play this one’, so I had to take it unplayable… well, I thought I was going to take it unplayable and drop it in the sand, which was going to be horrendous. So I'm very happy that he managed.”
Daniel Hillier, who shared the first-round lead with Reed, carded 69 to sit alongside Richard Sterne in third on 10 under.
Hillier dropped shots at the third and 12th but on each occasion responded with a trio of birdies - three in succession from the seventh and three in four holes from the 13th.
A third bogey, after failing to escape from sand at the 17th, meant he had to settle for three under on the day.
Sterne produced a bogey-free 66, with the last of his six birdies coming when he holed out from that same greenside bunker on the penultimate hole.
"I wasn't expecting that,” he admitted. "I hit a full eight iron (approach), it just clearly wasn't enough, needed another yard or two, and, yeah, the bunker shot just came out perfect and I was pretty happy with that.
“I've been driving it well, and my iron play has been pretty solid. And putting's starting to get better so that helps with making some birdies. I made a few decent putts today, so pretty happy."
Angel Ayora, Matt Wallace and Ewen Ferguson shared fifth place on nine under par with Jacob Skov Olesen and Kota Kaneko at eight under.
Pádraig Harrington shot 70 to reach three under and make the cut for the 380th time in his 500 DP World Tour events, an impressive 76 per cent rate.
