Ayoub maintains lead at Qatar Open

Ayoub Id-Omar continued to lead after the penultimate round at the WAGR Qatar Open Amateur Golf Championship. The Moroccan shot an even-par 72 yesterday at the Doha Golf Club as he stay ahead of the pack going into the final round.
Omar had shot an impressive 69 on the opening day, but could not repeat the performance. But his disciplined round of 72 meant he did just enough to hold his advantage.
Pakistan’s Ahmed Baig made a big move as he shot a two-under-par 70 to join England’s Joshua White in second spot. White, who had shot a 70 on Thursday had to be content with a 73.
It was a disappointing day for American Thomas Strandemo, who hit a 74 to drop to fourth with even par. Simon Khan and Mats Markovits also were not at their best shooting 75 and 74 respectively to share fifth place along with Mike Toorop.
Meanwhile, Qatar’s Ali al-Shershani shot an impressive even-par 72 to move to 10th in the leaderboard. However, last year’s runner-up Saleh al-Kaabi could not keep pace and dropped to 23rd after a round of 79.
Last year’s winner Pierre Junior Verlaar is in 14th place after hitting 76 in the second round.
The tournament champion, the winner in the professional category and two best Qatari finishers will get a berth at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters 2018, a European Tour event, to be held from February 22 to 25 at the same venue.