Qatar Masters - Day two digest

Joakim Lagergren found himself on the rocks, Ewen Ferguson wanted a lie-in and Pádraig Harrington extended his landmark DP World Tour appearance at the 2026 Qatar Masters.

Here is everything you need to know from Friday at Doha Golf Club.

Reed weathers early frustration

Patrick Reed continued his superb early-season form with a 67 to lead by one stroke at halfway. The American did not have it all his own way on this occasion, though, missing his first four fairways before finally making his first birdie. While he did find the front of the green at the par-three third, 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."

Once he hit his stride, Reed was back in familiar form with this approach to the ninth among his highlights.

Jesse digs deep

Joakim Lagergren gave his caddie an unusual job after finding a rock formation with his tee-shot at the second hole. After Jesse Karlsson put his imposing physique to good use, Lagergren was able to hit an excellent escape shot to the green. "He saved par for me there," Lagergren acknowledged, as Jesse set his sights on "a big lunch". Richly deserved!

Ewen's not a morning person

Ewen Ferguson was prominent in the chasing pack at nine under par but, starting at the 10th hole at 7.10am local time, admitted he had to first shake the sleep out of his system. "Sometimes I struggle to focus with super-early mornings," he admitted. “As things calmed down and I woke up a little bit, I started to feel like I could see the greens better and visualise my shots a bit easier.”

The Scot admits the prospect of recapturing the spectacular oyster-shell trophy which he won in 2022 (below) drives him on and said: "The course is amazing but there’s just something about that trophy isn’t there? It’s an unbelievable trophy. Every time I look at it I’m always like, ‘Wow, that thing’s incredible!’, so that probably inspires me a little bit."

Kaneko announces himself

Japan's Kota Kaneko, on his second DP World Tour start, put himself four shots off the lead with a second consecutive 68. He responded to his only bogey in the first 36 holes with this superb pitch in for eagle at the 16th.

Pádraig takes the mic

At the other end of the experience scale from Kaneko, 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. The likeable Irishman then demonstrated his skills for a possible post-playing career...

Nacho finds his footing

Nacho Elvira bounced back from an opening 74 by shooting 66 on Friday to comfortably make the cut. That was despite running repairs to a damaged shoe after hitting a tee-shot during his front nine - this long putt certainly helped his cause.