Jamie Donaldson leads Dubai Desert Classic at halfway

Matt Jones - Editor 22:34 26/01/2018
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  • A solid Round 2 saw Jamie Donaldson head into the last two rounds atop the leaderboard.

    He almost lost his European Tour card three months ago, but Jamie Donaldson leads the way at halfway of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic after another solid day Friday.

    Thursday’s sublime -10 under par 62, which saw the Welshman flirt with the course record of 61 set by Ernie Els nearly a quarter of a century ago, was followed by a more modest -3 under 69 in a weather-interrupted second day which sees him lead by one shot from China’s Li Haotong.

    It’s been three-and-a-half years since the 42-year-old’s last win on the European Tour – the D+D Real Czech Masters in August 2014.

    But even though he narrowly avoided being forced back to qualifying school when he finished fourth in the final event, the Andalucia Valderrama Masters, to move inside the top 101 of the Race to Dubai standings to secure his playing rights for the 2018 season, the 2014 Ryder Cup hero admits not “slogging” his guts out over the winter is paying dividends.

    Whereas other players out of form would have used the winter to regain form and focus – Martin Kaymer, like Donaldson a former winner of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, is a good example – Donaldson used the winter break to reset.

    “Over the winter, I took a couple months off and didn’t really hit a ball,” admitted the world number 292, who famously secured the winning point for Europe in the 2014 Ryder Cup, beating Keegan Bradley 4&3, as Europe won 16.5-11.5 at Gleneagles.

    “We play so much golf all year. I’ve got two young kids, it’s time to have some family time with them for a couple of months and it was great. I’ve got a nice family life.

    “You come out for the season nice and fresh and you’re reacting more to what you’ve turned up with, as opposed to slogging yourself to death over the winter.

    “Each to his own. Everyone does it differently. That’s what I like to do. And then nearer the time, start playing a little bit.”

    Early morning fog meant a delay of nearly three hours at Emirates Golf Club yesterday and all of the later starters will have to complete their second rounds from 7:30am this morning – including the playing trio of Rory McIlroy, Henrik Stenson and defending champion Sergio Garcia.

    South African Branden Grace’s 65 was the lowest completed round of the day and he sat at -11 under, a shot clear of Thomas Aiken and Miguel Angel Jimenez.

    Swede Alexander Bjork was also -11 under after 12 holes of his second round, with McIlroy nicely poised at -10 under with seven holes to play.

    A hugely popular figure as always was veteran Spaniard Jimenez, a winner here in Dubai in 2010. The 54-yer-old, who plays mostly on the Champions Tour now, carded a -4 under par round of 68 to share fourth place with McIlory, who won here the previous year, in 2009.

    That, added to his opening 66 on day one, puts him three shots off the lead. And whereas the fog would have frustrated most players, Jimenez saw it as an opportunity rather than a hindrance.

    “It’s not the first time it happened, you know,” said the Malaga native, who was coolness personified in the mixed zone following his round, leisurely puffing on one of his signature cigars.

    “This is my 30th season, it happened more than one: a rain delay, fog delay, thunderstorm delay. At the end of the day, you don’t think about it.

    “You just go there and relax a little bit, moving around, go and have another breakfast. There’s nothing to do.”

    Asked how he would prepare for today, he added: “Well, going to finish my cigar, going to have a small nap and I’m going to have a beautiful bottle tonight. Maybe go to the Spanish restaurant in the Souk.”

    England’s Matthew Southgate made the second hole-in-one of the season with a nine iron from 154 yards on the seventh, winning himself an Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra en route to a 68 and an eight under par total.

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