A stunning round of seven-under-par 65 helped Scotland’s Marc Warren surge 51 places to finish the day only one shot off the pace at the Qatar Masters.
The 33-year-old from Rutherglen followed up his steady opening round of 71 with a sparkling 65 which included an eagle 3 at the first, seven birdies and only two dropped shots.
Warren, who picked up his third European Tour win at last year’s Made in Denmark event, is only one adrift of halfway leaders George Coetzee, Bernd Wiesberger and Branden Grace.
Aberdeen’s Paul Lawrie is the next best placed Scot but he failed to build on his fine first round score of 67. The 46-year-old finished with a 73 to drop 29 places and finish the day tied 32nd.
Lawrie said: “It was a disappointing day. I have no complaints with a 73 as I hit a lot of poor iron shots and holed nothing. Hopefully, it will be better tomorrow.”
Fellow Press and Journal columnist Stephen Gallacher also endured a disappointing second round.
The Ryder Cup player was well placed after an opening round of 68 but struggled to a second round score of 75 to make the cut with nothing to spare on one under overall.
Gallacher’s second round included four bogeys and a double bogey 7 at the ninth.
Scott Jamieson also survived the halfway cut on three under but Aberdeen’s Richie Ramsay made an early exit after scores of 73 and 72 for a one over total.
Chris Doak (three over), Craig Lee (four over), David Drysdale (four over) also missed the cut.