Day two digest: 2021 Commercial Bank Qatar Masters

Everything you need to know from the second day at Education City Golf Club.

Extremely testing conditions greeted the later starters on day two of the 2021 Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, with no-one able to prevent early riser Jeff Winther from taking a two shot lead into the weekend.

Here is everything you need to know from the second day at Education City Golf Club.

Winther makes the most of calm conditions

Early starter Winther admitted he was one of the lucky ones, as he was able to complete the vast majority of his round before the strong wind arrived on Friday. After turning in 36, Winther made birdies at the tenth, 13th, 15th and 16th to get to eight under par. No-one could match his clubhouse total as the later starters battled brutal conditions, handing Winther a two shot lead. He said: "The wind is quite severe now. We were lucky. On the last three or four holes it was really starting to pick up. Playing around 15-20 yards further, you’ve got to be on your game." The second round was suspended due to darkness late on Friday, with 15 players set to return to the course to finish off on Saturday morning.

Fichardt's eventful day

Former champion Darren Fichardt had to come back to complete his first round on Friday morning after fading light forced him and playing partners Sebastian Heisele and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño to leave the course with one hole still to finish on Thursday. The conditions were pretty calm at that point, but when the trio returned to begin their second round at 8.15am, the wind started to pick up. By the time they were on the back nine, the conditions had worsened further. This didn't seem to bother Fichardt, though, as he holed out from 76 yards for a magnificent eagle at the tenth, before converting from eight feet for birdie at the 12th and from 22 feet at the 14th to get to eight under. The South African dropped his first shot of the day at the 16th before making another bogey on the next after he de-greened his birdie putt. But he heads into the weekend just two strokes behind Winther in a tie for second.

The Højgaard twins turn 20

We can officially no longer refer to twins Nicolai and Rasmus Højgaard as talented teenagers after the Danish duo turned 20 today. They remain as talented as ever though. Happy birthday guys!

Rai smiles after muddy moment

As Aaron Rai prepared to take a shot from a muddy puddle, I don't think anyone thought his white trousers were going to emerge unscathed. Somehow, though, the mud seemed the avoid his bottom half and spray him slightly higher up. And it was some shot too...

Wood in a league of his own

Chris Wood was the only player to keep his card clean on a testing day in Doha. The early starter made three birdies and no bogeys to head into the weekend on one under.