Trio atop Qatar Masters

There's a three-way tie for the lead after 36 holes of the Qatar Masters. The European Tour event had an unusual Wednesday start - with a Saturday finish - at Doha Golf Club.

Sharing the top spot at 9-under 135 are South Africans Branden Grace and George Coetzee along with Austria's Bernd Wiesberger. The trio carded rounds of 68, 66 and 67, respectively.

Grace, who drew worldwide attention with four victories between January and October 2012 but didn't return to the winner's circle until the Alfred Dunhill Championship in December, posted five birdies and a bogey.

Coetzee, a burly 29-year-old from Pretoria who won the Joburg Open last February, had six birdies and a bogey, while Wiesberger, a two-time winner who finished tied for 15th in the PGA Championship on the American circuit, had seven birdies - including five on the back nine - and a bogey.

Trailing by one stroke are South Korean rookie Byeong-hun An (69), Scotland's Marc Warren (65) and Argentina's Emiliano Grillo (69).

With little wind Thursday, Grace believed the scores would be much lower on the Doha course. Warren's 65 - which included an eagle, seven birdies and two bogeys - was the day's low round; it was matched by England's Tommy Fleetwood.

"I really thought somebody was going to push on," he told the European Tour's website.

"You saw the guys from this morning, they were 6-unders and 5-unders and 7-unders, and nobody really pushed towards the end of the day. The greens weren't as quick as I thought they were going to be. They are still very good. They didn't spike up at all, so it's a big surprise nobody really pushed on."

Coetzee likes the state of his game heading into the final two rounds. "I'm playing well. My swing is coming along slightly and I'm putting pretty nicely. I've just got to wait for my birdies and not force it and play the golf course like I know it."

Weisberger, who finished tied for sixth in last week's Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship last week, also feels his game's in a good place. "I feel comfortable. I haven't really expected it coming into these two weeks, especially because I played quite poorly last year.

"It gives me great confidence; if I keep on doing what I'm doing, I think I've worked on the right things the last couple of weeks and it shows."

Sharing seventh at 137 are Spain's Alejandro Canizares (70), South African Darren Fichardt (70) and Australia's Richard Green (67).

First-round leader Oliver Fisher of England couldn't keep pace. After opening with a promising 65 the 26-year-old struggled to a 73 to drop into a tie for 10th at 6-under 138 with 10 other players.

That big group includes defending champion Sergio Garcia. The sixth-ranked player in the world has posted two straight 69s.

No. 2 Henrik Stenson had a 71 and heads into Round 3 at 3-under, the same number as fifth-ranked Justin Rose (73)

The midway cut was set at 1-under 143. Among those heading home is Gary Stal, who overcame an eight-stroke deficit to win last week's Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship. American Peter Uihlein, the European Tour's 2013 Rookie of the Year, had a 73 but made the cut by two strokes.

For all the scores, visit http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2015/tournamentid=2015004/leaderboard/index.html.

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