Patrick Reed continued his strong start to the year by claiming the solo lead at the halfway stage of the Qatar Masters.
Reed was not quite in the blistering form that has made him the star of the DP World Tour so far in 2026, but produced a birdie at the par-five 18th to post a 67, taking him to 12 under for the tournament.
That moved the American a shot clear of Joakim Lagergren, after the Swede avoided dropping a shot on his way to carding a 66 at Doha Golf Club.
Reed won the Hero Dubai Desert Classic last month and lost a dramatic three-way play-off at the Bahrain Championship last weekend.
Those tournaments came either side of Reed announcing on January 28 that he had quit LIV Golf to return to the PGA Tour in 2027. He will play on the DP World Tour for the rest of this year.
"Honestly, today was a little frustrating, especially early," said Reed, whose only bogey came at the 15th hole.
"Ball-striking wasn't quite as sharp as it was yesterday but I missed in the right spots today and because of that I was still able to get balls on greens.
"Towards the end the game started feeling pretty solid, and I'm looking forward to the weekend."
Lagergren, who played the back nine first on Friday, produced a remarkable escape at the second hole as he and his caddie had to remove large rocks to access his ball, before he played a scarcely believable shot onto the green and made par.
Daniel Hillier and Richard Sterne finished a shot further back on -11, with the former having appeared a threat to claim the lead himself before a bogey-par finish.
England's Matt Wallace and Scotland's Ewen Ferguson produced impressive rounds of 66 to move into a share of fifth on nine under alongside Spain's Angel Ayora.
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