Robinson-Thompson, Neergaard-Petersen share lead at DGC

Englishman Brandon Robinson-Thompson drained a 60-foot birdie putt on the eighth - his penultimate hole of the opening day to – to share the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters lead on 6-under par with Denmark’s Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen on Thursday.
In the morning start, Neergaard-Petersen weathered the tricky conditions at the Doha Golf Club (DGC) and recovered from an opening bogey to post a sensational 66. Italy’s Andrea Pavan and England’s Sam Bairstow were in a tie for third one shot behind the co-leaders after shooting 67s.
Neergaard-Petersen began the tournament with a bogey but bounced back immediately at the second, holing from eight feet for a birdie. He repeated the trick at the fourth from a similar distance before picking up further shots on the seventh and ninth as he reached the turn in 33. Neergaard-Petersen then made back-to-back birdies from tap-in range at the tenth to get to four under. A 30-foot birdie followed on the 13th before another gain at the 14th took Neergaard-Petersen to six under.
“I’m extremely pleased, even after the bogey at the first. To bounce back like that was huge. I felt really good on the greens today and was able to roll in some putts. It was a lovely day,” he said.
The Dane has made a bright start to the new campaign following a stunning 2024 in which he won three times on the European Challenge Tour to earn automatic promotion to the DP World Tour.
“I made a conscious effort this week to try and start fast. I told my caddie, Brian, going into this week that was the main goal, get off to a good start, be under par through six and take it from there,” the 25-year-old Dane said.
And despite an early blip in windy conditions, where he dropped a shot at the first hole after missing his 14-foot par putt, Neergaard-Petersen continued his fine recent form as he made seven birdies and no bogeys over the next 17 holes to set the early clubhouse target at six under par.
Robinson Thompson then caught Neergaard-Petersen at the summit late in the afternoon after draining his 60-foot birdie putt on the eighth - his penultimate hole.
Robinson-Thompson, who smashed the course record as he opened with a 61 in Bahrain last week, had a chance to hold the outright first-round lead for the second week in a row but was unable to make his birdie putt from ten feet on the ninth and had to settle for a share.
“Just a lot of good stuff out there today. Tricky conditions with the wind, but first and foremost the golf course is in unbelievable condition. The guys at Doha Golf Club have done such a good job. I just took advantage of opportunities that came my way,” the 32-yearold Englishman said.
Robinson-Thompson started from the tenth tee on Thursday and mixed four birdies with one bogey on his way to the turn. After making a ten-foot birdie on the par-five first, he had to wait until the seventh for his next gain before going back-to-back from long range at the eighth.
Three good shots into the long ninth set up a decent birdie chance at his last hole but Robinson- Thompson was unable to convert and had to make do with a closing par.
“The first round is always important, it can get you in the tournament, you can relax and build on it. This is almost like a home game for me. I’ve been here so many times and I’m so comfortable here,” he said.
Frenchman Pierre Pineau and Armenia’s Jean Bekirian were another shot back with two holes still to complete when play was suspended at 5:12pm due to darkness. They will return early in the morning when round one restarts at 7am.
Last week’s winner in Bahrain, Laurie Canter finished the round with 4-under par. Thirteen-year-old Daniil Sokolov, a Russian national who represents Qatar and was in the field courtesy of an invitation shot 3-over 75. With the effort he has given himself a chance of making the weekend in just his second appearance in a European tour event.
Sokolov was 2 under after four holes but picked up four bogeys and a double to drop into a tie for 105th when play was suspended with 12 players yet to finish their round. Sokolov also played the Qatar Masters last year at the age of 12, shooting rounds of 78 and 82 to miss the cut.