Saturday 28 January 2017 15:41, UK
Andy Sullivan and Kiradech Aphibarnrat are part of a nine-way tie for the lead after a record-breaking second round at the Qatar Masters.
Sullivan fired a second successive 68 in Doha to set the morning clubhouse target alongside Mikko Korhonen, Nacho Elvira, Jorge Campillo, Thomas Aiken and overnight leader Bradley Dredge.
Afternoon starters Aphibarnrat, Jaco Van Zyl and Jeunghun Wang also got themselves to eight under for the week, breaking the record for the most players sharing the 36-hole lead in a European Tour event.
Challenge Tour graduate Jordan Smith posted a joint-low round-of-the-day 66 to join Ireland's Paul Dunne as one of seven players one shot off the pace, with six strokes separating the 70 players who have made it through to the weekend.
Beginning on the back nine, Dredge opened up a two-shot lead at the turn thanks to a gain at the 16th but saw his advantage halved with bunker-bound tee shot and dropped shot at the third.
Dredge cancelled out his birdie at the fourth with a dropped shot at the sixth, slipping him back alongside Elvira and Korhonen - who shot a blemish-free back nine.
A final-hole gain from Campillo closed a bogey-free 67 and Aiken picked up strokes on two of his last three holes, while Sullivan recovered from a slow start to birdie four of his last eight holes and make it a six-way tie.
Van Zyl was the next to join the group at the top by closing his 69 with a birdie-four at the ninth, with Wang opening with back-to-back birdies on his way to reaching eight under.
Successive gains from the 16th and a two-putt par at the last then moved Aphibarnrat to the top, breaking the previous 36-hole lead record of eight players from the 1997 Scandinavian Masters.
Simon Dyson briefly joined the group at the top with a birdie-two at the third and Daniel Im threatened the lead when he reached the turn in 30, but both players sit on seven under with Dunne, Smith, Lucas Bjerregaard, Anthony Wall and Chris Hanson.
Top seed Alex Noren and four-time major champion Ernie Els head the list two shots off the pace, while one-time leader Graeme McDowell sits five strokes back despite birdieing his first two holes.
A hole-in-one at the par-three 17th was the highlight of Chris Paisley's back nine 30 to safely progress to the weekend, with Abu Dhabi champion Tommy Fleetwood among those to miss the cut.
Watch the Qatar Masters throughout the weekend live on Sky Sports 4 - your home of golf. Live coverage begins on Saturday from 9am.
