Scott Jamieson made a blistering start in the Qatar Masters as he bids to keep his DP World Tour card for next season.
The Scot, 39, fired a seven-under-par opening 65 to share the early lead with New Zealand’s Daniel Hillier before a sandstorm in Doha briefly stopped play.
Jamieson sits 119th in the Race to Dubai standings, with the top 116 retaining full privileges for 2024.
Robert MacIntyre, Ewen Ferguson and Stephen Gallacher all reached six under on a leaderboard dominated by Scots.
Jamieson’s close friend Marc Warren, a four-time winner on the tour, is 117th on the standings and opened with a two-under 70, as did Aberdonian Richie Ramsay.
Warren, 42, won the 2007 World Cup alongside Colin Montgomerie and has competed on the circuit for 17 years.
Florida-based Jamieson has held his card for 13 consecutive seasons, with a career-best finish of 26th in 2017, but he and Warren face a trip to qualifying school if they do not force their way into the top 116 in the Race to Dubai standings by Sunday evening.
Andy Sullivan of England and Spain’s Pablo Larrazabal featured among the players who began with five-under rounds of 67.
Ross Fisher is 115th in the Race to Dubai and the former Ryder Cup player carded an opening two-under 70 as the Englishman seeks to preserve his status for next season.
Play resumed before 12:00 BST, with more than half the field still to complete their rounds in the £3m event in the Middle East.
