Paul McGinley got another close up view of a potential Ryder Cup team member as he watched Rafa Cabrera-Bello put on a putting clinic to race into the halfway lead at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.

The European skipper warmly congratulated the Spaniard after he covered his last 11 holes in seven under par, picking up four birdies in the last five in a homeward 31 for a 65 and a two shot lead on 13 under par.

His seven under par effort was the joint best of the day, which is no surprise considering he missed just one green and had only 28 putts in an eight-birdie round at Doha Golf Club

South Africa’s George Coetzee is his nearest rival on 11 under par after adding a 69 to his opening 64 with pre-tournament favourites Henrik Stenson (71) and Sergio Garica (67) lurking on five and six under respectively.

Ireland's hopefuls have work to do to stop Cabrera-Bello, who was fourth behind Pablo Larrazábal (missed cut) in Abu Dhabi last week. But the good news is that three made the cut and two of them are well placed.

Simon Thornton shot a 68 and Michael Hoey a 70 to leave them seven shot behind the man from the Canaries in a share of 23rd place on six under par.

As for McGinley, he shot a very consistent, bogey-free, two under 70 to make the cut on the one under par limit, picking up two shots on the back nine as he played alongside Cabrera Bello and another potential Ryder Cup player in Scotland's Stephen Gallacher, who is tied for 16th on seven under thanks to a fine 68.

The rest of the Irish missed the cut though some were more upbeat than others as they left Qatar for Dubai.

Shane Lowry posted a bogey free 68 to get back to level par but knew he had no chance of making the cut on that mark after he finished early in the day.

"Strange to be off to the airport so early in the week," he tweeted after a fine day around the greens.

"Yesterday [76] did all the damage. Decent today. At least it's something to bring to Dubai."

Damien McGrane was a shot inside the cut mark with seven holes to go but double bogeyed the 12th and followed a birdie at the par-three 17th with a disappointing bogey at the last to miss out by one after a 74.

Gareth Maybin was well off the pace on six over after rounds of 76 and 74 while Peter Lawrie's agony continues.

The Dubliner hit just eight of 28 fairways and took 31 and 33 putts respectively in carding rounds of 80 and 76 to finish just the week in penultimate spot on 13 over. He has now missed four cuts in row and made the weekend just twice in the 14 tournaments he has played since finishing 10th in the Irish Open at Carton House last June.

Lawrie's plight brings back memories of 2003, when he was celebrating becoming the first Irishman to win the  Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year award. 

In a revealing interview, Ken Lawrence wrote:

"What they say is true. Any pro trying to make it and doesn't admit to crying in his hotel room after missing another cut is lying. 

"I came up with Padraig Harrington as an amateur - he was a little ahead of me but we'd play together in the Leinster team. I could see where he was going, his success as a pro while I was down there, scrabbling for a hold on something to just get me through." 

Flash forward now. Having gained the Rookie award with six top 10 finishes, 56th in the Order of Merit and even been credited as the first to make birdie of the 2003 season back in January in Taiwan, he doesn't reckon he'll be forced to fall back on working for brother Ian now. 

Ian runs Liberty Asset Management in Dublin and Lawrie, with an a commerce degree, had to resort to book-keeping a couple of years ago to keep the wolves from the door. 

Having made around pounds 300,000 this season he can concentrate now only on improving himself: "By God I need to," he joked. 

"I must work on being less negative, but that's easier said than done...whether you are the first-ever Irish Rookie of the Year or not!" 

Complete Round Two Scores

131 R Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 66 65,

133 G Coetzee (RSA) 64 69,

134 J Carlsson (Swe) 69 65, M Baldwin (Eng) 68 66, S Webster (Eng) 65 69,

135 T Lewis (Eng) 68 67, M Ilonen (Fin) 68 67, R Wattel (Fra) 67 68, T Aiken (RSA) 67 68,

136 A Wall (Eng) 70 66, B Grace (RSA) 67 69, F Calmels (Fra) 66 70, A Cañizares (Esp) 68 68, P Hanson (Swe) 69 67, J Daly (USA) 67 69,

137 K Broberg (Swe) 69 68, T Olesen (Den) 68 69, S Gallacher (Sco) 69 68, G Bhullar (Ind) 67 70, S Dyson (Eng) 68 69, P Lawrie (Sco) 67 70, D Van Der Walt (RSA) 65 72,

138 M Hoey (Nir) 68 70, R Fisher (Eng) 66 72, S Thornton (Irl) 70 68, F Zanotti (Par) 69 69, S Garcia (Esp) 71 67,

139 H Stenson (Swe) 68 71, N Elvira (Esp) 66 73, J Olazábal (Esp) 69 70, R Bland (Eng) 69 70, G Stal (Fra) 69 70, S Manley (Wal) 69 70, S Kapur (Ind) 68 71, P Uihlein (USA) 70 69, S Benson (Eng) 68 71, D Fichardt (RSA) 69 70, C Lee (Sco) 72 67,

140 M Kaymer (Ger) 70 70, M Carlsson (Swe) 69 71, T Hatton (Eng) 69 71, C Del Moral (Esp) 72 68, B Koepka (USA) 70 70, D Foos (am) (Ger) 70 70,

141 J Morrison (Eng) 68 73, R Santos (Por) 72 69, J Dufner (USA) 70 71, A Quiros (Esp) 69 72, A Saddier (Fra) 70 71, M Crespi (Ita) 70 71, L Donald (Eng) 72 69, J Quesne (Fra) 71 70, R Rock (Eng) 70 71, S Kjeldsen (Den) 70 71, C Doak (Sco) 69 72, T Jaidee (Tha) 68 73,

142 R Derksen (Ned) 70 72, J Lima (Por) 72 70, M Fraser (Aus) 74 68, J Singh (Ind) 71 71, W Ormsby (Aus) 72 70, M Siem (Ger) 69 73, H Otto (RSA) 71 71, E Grillo (Arg) 72 70,

143 L Slattery (Eng) 73 70, E Pepperell (Eng) 69 74, C Wood (Eng) 73 70, T Fleetwood (Eng) 73 70, R Dinwiddie (Eng) 71 72, D Willett (Eng) 71 72, M Foster (Eng) 72 71, S Hansen (Den) 73 70, P McGinley (Irl) 73 70, R Karlsson (Swe) 70 73, E Els (RSA) 67 76, V Riu (Fra) 73 70,

CUT

144 M Jiménez (Esp) 71 73, D McGrane (Irl) 70 74, R Sterne (RSA) 74 70, J Walters (RSA) 71 73, P Waring (Eng) 74 70, D Howell (Eng) 73 71, G Mulroy (RSA) 72 72, S Kim (Kor) 73 71, B Rumford (Aus) 73 71, S Lowry (Irl) 76 68,

145 T Björn (Den) 74 71, R Gonzalez (Arg) 72 73, P Whiteford (Sco) 72 73, D Huizing (Ned) 73 72, R Green (Aus) 74 71, E De La Riva (Esp) 73 72, G Storm (Eng) 74 71, J McLeary (Sco) 74 71, E Molinari (Ita) 74 71, M Kieffer (Ger) 73 72,

146 M Warren (Sco) 70 76, A Otaegui (Esp) 72 74, R Finch (Eng) 75 71, J Campillo (Esp) 74 72, B Stone (RSA) 76 70, R Jacquelin (Fra) 72 74,

147 G Havret (Fra) 70 77, P Larrazábal (Esp) 71 76, A Levy (Fra) 79 68, B Wiesberger (Aut) 71 76, J Dantorp (Swe) 79 68, J Jeong (Kor) 73 74, A Pavan (Ita) 72 75,

148 A Sullivan (Eng) 71 77, A Al Kaabi (am) (Qat) 78 70,

149 N Fasth (Swe) 79 70, M Madsen (Den) 74 75, J Parry (Eng) 69 80, M Williams (am) (Eng) 74 75,

150 J Hahn (USA) 74 76, G Maybin (Nir) 74 76,

151 R Kakko (Fin) 73 78, M Nixon (Eng) 76 75,

152 J Kruger (RSA) 72 80,

153 T Levet (Fra) 80 73, C Arendell (USA) 76 77,

156 J Hansen (Den) 79 77, P Lawrie (Irl) 80 76,

157 A Al-Shahrani (am) (Qat) 73 84,