Charl Schwartzel shot a brilliant seven-under-par 65 on Thursday in a windy second round of the Asian Tour’s International Series Qatar to move into a share of fourth place on eight-under through the halfway mark.
Up front, Peter Uihlein unleashed all of his talent on an eight-under-par 64 to take the halfway lead in the $2.5-million tournament, embracing the windy conditions that replaced the calmness of round one. He was 12-under for the event at Doha Golf Club and led by two from American Zach Bauchou, who carded 68.
First-round leader Ian Snyman from South Africa was in third, a shot further back, following a 70. Schwartzel, Spain’s Luis Masaveu (69) and David Puig (70) plus Miguel Tabuena (68) from the Philippines were tied fourth, four behind the leader.
Snyman was unable to repeat his brilliant first-round 65 but was delighted with his round in much more difficult conditions that he felt played four shots harder.
He said: “This is probably one of my best rounds, I would say, on the Asian Tour. Hit it really good, hit lots of fairways, which is great in these conditions. Hit lots of greens, made some great putts. One bogey, I mean, I think that basically says it, it was a solid round of golf.
“Shot-wise compared to yesterday, probably about four shots I would say, that would be my guess. It was just a guessing game out there, and yeah, I managed to guess most of them correctly. Even putting you had to take the wind into account.”
Earlier in the day best buddies Schwartzel and compatriot Louis Oosthuizen, paired together, moved into contention. Oosthuizen fired a 71 and is another stroke behind.
Schwartzel, whose most recent victory was the LIV Golf Invitational in 2022 – LIV Golf’s first ever event – began on the back nine, and made a brilliant start by birdieing the first, before holing out for an eagle on the par-four 11th. He dropped his only shot of the day on 14 but coasted to the top with five more birdies.
“Yeah, that was quite a surprise,” said the 2011 Masters champion.
“Struggled with my driver a bit yesterday and with this wind I was a bit worried. I actually drove it well and got off to that fantastic start and played solid from there, all the way in.”
He has registered some strong performances on the LIV Golf League this season, tying for second in Jeddah and finishing equal third in Adelaide, and would no doubt dearly love to finish the year with a win.
He added: “With me it’s always rhythm, I get all quick, just tried to keep it smooth today and did a good job of it.”
