Play called for wind in Qatar; tourney reduced to 54 holes

Golf Betting Lines

02/03/2012 - Doha, Qatar (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The heavy wind that sent scores soaring in round one, became too much in round two.

The second round of the Qatar Masters was suspended on Friday due to high winds and unplayable conditions at Doha Golf Club. Officials shortened the championship to 54 holes.

Half of the field teed off in round two, but no one completed the round. Everyone will return on Saturday to complete the second round. Play begins at 8:45 a.m. local time.

"The course is still on the verge of playable, but there's no point sending the guys out for an hour or two on a marginal course," said tournament director David Probyn. "The winds will be down a notch tomorrow and decreasing during the day, while the forecast for Sunday is for much calmer conditions."

John Daly is the leader at five-under par, although the two-time major winner, who has no status on the PGA Tour and indicated on Thursday he will focus on the European Tour this year. did not hit a shot on Friday.

First-round leader Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano recorded two bogeys in his first seven holes and fell into a tie for second place at four-under par. Jason Day is even through six, K.J. Choi hasn't teed off and the pair joined Fernandez- Castano at minus-four.

"I hope tomorrow I can take advantage of the remaining 10 holes I have," said Fernandez-Castano. "I didn't have any balls moving, but certain shots you could hardly keep balanced. Being selfish I'm quite happy play was called off."

David Lynn is two-under par through nine holes of his second round. He shares fifth place with Nicolas Colsaerts, 1999 British Open champion Paul Lawrie, Peter Hanson and Richard Finch, all of whom have yet to begin their second rounds.

World No. 3 Lee Westwood is two-over on Friday and fell to one-over par for the championship. Martin Kaymer, the No. 4 player in the world, is one-under par and didn't strike a shot.

All was not lost on Friday for Branden Grace, the two-time winner already this year. The leader in the Race to Dubai birdied his first three holes Friday, added another at the 15th, his sixth of the round, and shot into a tie for 15th at one-under par.

Damien McGrane is five-under through his first nine and vaulted up 66 spots into a tie for 48th at plus-one.

Defending champion Thomas Bjorn is actually one-under in round two, but six- over for the tournament.

NOTES: The 36-hole is currently at one-over par, although that can certainly change with so much of the second round still to be played...Jose Manuel Lara withdrew on Friday.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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