Cormac Sharvin faces an early Saturday morning test when he returns to Education City Golf Club needing to par his last two holes to make the cut in the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.

The Co Down man was two-over for the second round and tied for 62nd on one-over-par through 16 holes when play was suspended due to darkness on Friday evening.

He was in one of four groups that must return to complete their second rounds from 7.30 am on Saturday after a day of contrasting weather conditions in Doha.

Denmark’s Jeff Winther is targeting a maiden European Tour win after carding a second consecutive round of 67 to lead in the clubhouse on eight-under-par.

Third last season, he made four birdies on the back nine to move two strokes clear of a group of five players on six under par before play was suspended due to darkness

Jamie Donaldson, who represented Europe at The 2014 Ryder Cup, made the most of the benign conditions in the morning as he carded a three-under-par round of 68 to take a share of second place, while the afternoon starters battled gusts of up to 40 kilometres an hour.

Joining the Welshman on six under par are former Qatar Masters champion Darren Fichardt of South Africa, American Kurt Kitayama, Kalle Samooja of Finland and England’s Jack Senior.

Seven competitors share seventh place on five under par, including 2016 Ryder Cup player Thomas Pieters and Rolex Series winner Brandon Stone.

Paul Dunne and Jonathan Caldwell also went out in the latter half of the field but both will miss the cut.

Calwell made four birdies and three bogeys in a one-under 70 to share 80th on three-over-par with Dunne 10-over after a 78.

Sharvin started brightly with an eagle three at the second but added six bogeys against just two birdies to be two-over for the day and one-over for the tournament, tied for 62nd with the top 65 and ties set to make the cut.

Meanwhile, the European Tour withdrew Englishman Matthew Jordan from the tournament after he tested positive for Covid-19.

His positive PCR result was identified as part of the on-site screening process on Thursday, and he was subsequently withdrawn from the tournament prior to the second round on Friday morning.

In accordance with Qatari Ministry of Public Health guidelines, Jordan is now in self-isolation and will be supported by the Ministry of Public Health and the European Tour throughout that period.

Meanwhile, Spain’s Adri Arnaus retired after eight holes of his second round reporting symptoms consistent with Covid-19. He took a PCR test and will also remain in self-isolation awaiting his result.

Player Quotes

Jeff Winther: “I love coming back here. I have good memories from last year even though two guys knocked me out. I really like this course – it’s great to play and the conditions are fantastic. I haven’t played for three weeks, but coming out here is fantastic.

“The greens are very nice. I don’t want to jinx myself but I think they are easy to putt on. They are very true. The condition is the same as last year, it’s beautiful.”

Darren Fichardt: “This morning we had to come back and play one hole, there was a small breeze. We sat in the clubhouse and waited for our 8:15 tee time. Midway through our front nine it started blowing a bit, then on the back nine it was blowing properly – it was tricky.

“I was quite embarrassed on 17 when I de-greened it. That’s a good indication of how tricky it is. It’s tough to get the pace right because the wind is gusting. You’ll set your putt off on a good line or a good pace and the wind can carry it or stop it. I had two three-whacks on the back nine. I walked off and said to my wife it wasn’t like I was trying to do that. The wind just gusts and it’s difficult to judge the wind.”

Kurt Kitayama: “It was playing really tough, the wind was really up – so it felt good though, getting under par.

“Being in Las Vegas and seeing a lot of desert golf out there, there’s a similar feel here. I think that helps a lot. Usually this time of year it’s pretty windy, so I get to see quite a bit of wind – a lot of times it’s on my day off though. It’s pretty comparable.

“(On the first) I chunked my approach and flew it into the bunker. I hit a good bunker shot and holed it, it was nice to get off that way – you’re looking at bogey really, so to come out with a birdie was a good start.”

Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, Education City Golf Club (Par 71)

Detailed scores

134 J Winther (Den) 67 67,

136 J Donaldson (Wal) 68 68, J Senior (Eng) 68 68, D Fichardt (RSA) 68 68, K Samooja (Fin) 65 71, K Kitayama (USA) 67 69,

137 B Stone (RSA) 69 68, N Bertasio (Ita) 65 72, C Paisley (Eng) 67 70, J Hansen (Den) 66 71, F Zanotti (Par) 67 70, T Pieters (Bel) 68 69, M Pavon (Fra) 68 69, G Higgo (RSA) 66 71,

138 C Shinkwin (Eng) 70 68, G Migliozzi (Ita) 71 67, T Detry (Bel) 66 72, J Suri (USA) 70 68, S Jamieson (Sco) 67 71, L Gagli (Ita) 68 70, R McEvoy (Eng) 65 73,

139 H Du Plessis (Rsa) 65 74, R Jacquelin (Fra) 70 69, J Janewattananond (Tha) 69 70, S Norris (RSA) 69 70, D Law (Sco) 64 75, S Sharma (Ind) 71 68, G Fernandez-Castaño (Esp) 69 70, G Forrest (Sco) 71 68,

140 J Catlin (USA) 70 70, G Bhullar (Ind) 67 73, E Pepperell (Eng) 69 71, D Whitnell (Eng) 68 72, R Langasque (Fra) 70 70, W Nienaber (RSA) 69 71,

141 J Campillo (Esp) 67 74, C Wood (Eng) 73 68, W Besseling (Ned) 72 69, M Armitage (Eng) 69 72, Y Chang (Kor) 70 71, A Bjork (Swe) 68 73, P Figueiredo (Por) 67 74, A Rozner (Fra) 69 72, F Laporta (Ita) 68 73, L Van Meijel (Ned) 69 72, M Antcliff (Aus) 69 72, S Crocker (Usa) 68 73,

142 A Cañizares (Esp) 73 69, N Lemke (Swe) 70 72, R Santos (Por) 71 71, A Chesters (Eng) 72 70, T Tree (Eng) 67 75, D Drysdale (Sco) 70 72, N Elvira (Esp) 69 73, M Schwab (Aut) 71 71, M Kieffer (Ger) 67 75,

143 J Walters (RSA) 73 70, R Enoch (Wal) 69 74, D Coupland (Eng) 69 74, J Smith (Eng) 69 74, S Brown (Eng) 69 74, R Ramsay (Sco) 69 74, M Kinhult (Swe) 70 73, B Hebert (Fra) 71 72, A Sullivan (Eng) 69 74, A Levy (Fra) 71 72,

144 S Al Kurdi (Am) (Jor) 68 76, D Van Driel (Ned) 70 74, E Molinari (Ita) 69 75, A Meronk (Pol) 72 72, J Luiten (Ned) 69 75,

145 G Havret (Fra) 70 75, P Larrazábal (Esp) 72 73, Z Lombard (RSA) 73 72, J Morrison (Eng) 75 70, S Gallacher (Sco) 70 75, K Moon (Kor) 70 75, W Ormsby (Aus) 69 76, L Canter (Eng) 71 74, G Coetzee (Rsa) 67 78, A Rai (Eng) 73 72, A Otaegui (Esp) 69 76, Jonathan Caldwell (Nir) 75 70, S Soderberg (Swe) 73 72, S Chawrasia (Ind) 70 75, S Kjeldsen (Den) 72 73, B Poke (Den) 71 74,

146 L Bjerregaard (Den) 77 69, H Li (Chn) 71 75, S Hend (Aus) 74 72, R Hojgaard (Den) 74 72, S Garcia Rodriguez (Esp) 69 77, R Bland (Eng) 70 76, H Porteous (RSA) 74 72, A Lguirati (Mar) 75 71, S Heisele (Ger) 70 76, M Kawamura (Jpn) 72 74, O Wilson (Eng) 71 75, G Porteous (Eng) 69 77,

147 C Hill (Sco) 72 75, T Lee (Kor) 75 72, D Howell (Eng) 73 74, J Harding (RSA) 70 77, A Cockerill (Can) 73 74, R Roussel (Fra) 73 74, S Kim (USA) 76 71,

148 R McGowan (Eng) 70 78, S Al Kaabi (Am) (Qat) 73 75, N Colsaerts (Bel) 71 77, J Stalter (Fra) 73 75, T Pulkkanen (Fin) 75 73,

149 K Reitan (Nor) 74 75, D Huizing (Ned) 77 72,

150 R Fisher (Eng) 76 74, A Quiros (Esp) 76 74, L Slattery (Eng) 75 75, R Karlberg (Swe) 70 80,

151 O Farr (Wal) 73 78, G Green (Mas) 72 79,

152 J Gonnet (Fra) 75 77, Paul Dunne (Irl) 74 78,

153 C Pigem (Esp) 78 75, R Sciot-Siegrist (Fra) 75 78, R Jordaan (Am) (RSA) 76 77, A Saddier (Fra) 75 78,

154 O Fisher (Eng) 78 76,

156 R Paratore (Ita) 78 78,

166 A Al-Shahrani (Am) (Qat) 82 84,

STILL TO FINISH

66 J Lagergren (Swe) 66 ,

68 L De Jager (RSA) 68 ,

69 C Syme (Sco) 69 ,

70 Cormac Sharvin (Nir) 70 ,

71 B Ritthammer (Ger) 71 , C Sordet (Fra) 71 , J Veerman (USA) 71 ,

72 R Rock (Eng) 72 ,

73 M Southgate (Eng) 73 ,

74 D Burmester (RSA) 74 , E Ferguson (Sco) 74 ,

79 J Jassim Al Kuwari (Am) (Qat) 79 ,

**

Out M Jordan (Eng) 74 WD, A Arnaus (Esp) 70 Rt, M Warren (Sco) 77 WD,