Richie Ramsay delighted to make Dubai cut with last-gasp birdie

The Capital-based player was facing an early exit at Emirates Golf Club before covering the last six holes on the Majlis Course in three-under.

That late burst gave him a 69 for a five-under-par total, which looked set to be a shot inside the halfway cut in the $3 million event.

That won’t be decided until the second round is completed on Saturday morning after a fog delay that last two hours and 50 minutes.

“I really enjoyed it out there,” admitted Ramsay, who started his 2018 campaign by finishing as top Scot in Abu Dhabi last weekend. “You are fighting in the second round of the tournament just to get the competitive juices going.

“I knew I had to dig in there. I thought four under would be the limit and thought five under would have a pretty good chance.”

On holing that putt at the last, the three-time European Tour winner added: “It was wee tester and it tried to slide right, but it went in and that sort of thing justifies all the stuff I’ve done over the winter.

“I’ve just got to get the scoring going as you can have one of these rounds and where you shoot 65 and you move up the leaderboard.”

As Welshman Jamie Donaldson set the clubhouse target on 13-under, two-time winner Stephen Gallacher left himself battling to make the cut on his early-morning return.

He had moved to three-under after two early birdies only to bogey the sixth and seventh.