Commercial Bank Qatar Masters - Day one digest

Hillier kicked his feet up while Tarrío went a full 12 rounds before the weather ended proceedings prematurely on day one of the 2023 Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.

Here is everything you need to know from Thursday at Doha GC.

Weather has its say

Sand and water are the traditional hazards to avoid on the golf course but there was no getting away from either on Thursday. First play was halted for an hour early in the afternoon by a sandstorm...

...and then a thunderstorm ended the day's play altogether and left groundstaff possibly grateful for the earlier assistance to the course's absorbency.

Hillier takes the load off

New Zealand's Daniel Hillier finished his round of 65 before the interruptions and finished the day sharing the lead on seven under par. "It’ll be interesting to see how it goes this afternoon but I’ll be at the hotel kicking up my feet, so happy days," he said after his round, in a quote that came to look prescient.

Jamieson and Ferguson lead Scottish surge

Hillier shared the lead with Scott Jamieson at the end of what play was possible. Jamieson was playing in one of the first groups out at 6am local time and the Scot hit the front immediately with a birdie at his first hole, the tenth, and added another three holes later. He fired four in five holes from the 17th and rounded off a bogey-free day with a seventh birdie at the fifth. Hillier burst into life with birdies at the 16th and 18th, an eagle at the par-five first and another birdie at the second, before rounding off his day with gains at the fifth and seventh. Defending champion Ewen Ferguson was in a share of third place on six under, with Robert MacIntyre and Stephen Gallacher adding to the Scottish dominance of the leaderboard.

Tarrío boxing clever

Spain's Santiago Tarrío was the other name in the group at six under and despite a bogey-free card, he admitted afterwards the atmospheric conditions were the least of his worries. "My problem is in my head, there’s a lot of wind inside there, never mind the golf course," he said. "This sport is so hard for your mentality, more than boxing I think."

Flying start for Pepperell

Eddie Pepperell sent his approach just off the back of the opening green, putting himself in prime position to get up and down for birdie - or he could just take the direct approach for eagle! Nice putt, Eddie.

Lombard goes flag-hunting

Zander Lombard took almost the opposite approach to Pepperell on that first hole. The South African's pitch from 50 yards shot of the hole ricocheted off the flag to nine feet away, from where he would two-putt for an opening par.