Thursday 28 January 2016 13:39, UK
Former Open Champion Paul Lawrie is refusing to get carried away about the prospect of a third Qatar Masters title, despite opening up a one-shot lead in Doha.
The 47-year-old, whose last European Tour victory came at the 2012 Johnnie Walker Championship, posted a six-under 66 on Thursday to set the clubhouse target at 11 under.
Lawrie's first Qatar win came in 1999, just months before his Open title at Carnoustie, before a four-shot win over Jason Day in 2012 helped him secure a place in Europe's Ryder Cup side at Medinah.
The Scot reached the turn in 33 and added birdies at the fourth, seventh and ninth to take his place at the top of the leaderboard, with Lawrie impressed by his start to the week.
"There's a long way to go," Lawrie said. "A lot of golf to be played and a lot of top players still up there, but so far, so good.
"It was pretty much the same as yesterday to be honest. I played nicely tee to green, hit a lot of good shots and only made one mistake, three-putting from 20 feet on the 15th.
"When you play as nicely as that and control the flight of the ball like I did yesterday, you know if you hole a few putts you are going to shoot low, so it was a good day.
"I got a little frustrated after 15 because I thought 'you are not taking advantage of the conditions', but then I played some nice golf and made a few birdies."
One of Lawrie's closest challengers on nine under is Gregory Bourdy, who became the first player in the tournament's history to ace the par-three eighth on his way to a four-under 68.
"It's always nice to get a hole-in-one," Bourdy told Sky Sports. "It's my third on Tour and it's great actually. I missed a few birdies before the eighth and then straight in with a six iron, so it was like two birdies straight.
"Having to play at 6.40, I think was a good thing this morning. It wasn't so hard. I think it was blowing a little harder yesterday and we could feel at the end, it was blowing a little bit more."
Watch the Qatar Masters throughout the week live on Sky Sports 4 - your home of golf. Third round coverage gets underway live on Friday from 9.30am.
