Thomas Aiken made a huge move to keep DP World Tour card a huge boost on an epic day in the Qatar Masters, where he racked up 13 birdies in 31 holes on Friday after storms curtailed Thursday’s action.

The South African headed to Qatar way down in 161st on the Race to Dubai Rankings, and is halfway to delivering the huge week he needs to stay on the DP World Tour.

The 40-year-old followed up his Thursday/Friday 69 with a second-round 65 at Doha Golf Club following a quick turnaround.

He leads alongside Daniel Hillier and Santiago Tarrio on 10-under, who have seven and six holes still to play on Saturday morning in their second round respectively.

Play was suspended due to fading light at 4.58pm local time.

Scots Robert MacIntyre and Ewen Ferguson — the defending champion — were a shot further back after nine holes of their second rounds, alongside Edoardo Molinari, who has seven holes remaining.

“I played really solid today,” Aiken said. “We had 31 holes to play, so it was a long day. Early wake-up call.

“It’s a course that I like, I’ve always played well here in the past. Unfortunately with the rain yesterday it got a little wet, normally it plays firm and fast, which is what I like.

“Hopefully it dries up over the weekend and starts playing more like that. But I played really solid. It’s tough competing against these youngsters these days — they hit it so far.

“It’s getting a little tougher to play in your forties, but I still feel like I can win out here. I just need the right golf course.

“Unfortunately I haven’t been able to pick and choose my courses this year. I’ve played a lot of courses I would normally not play, but this is definitely one where I’ve always done well in the past. It’s proving evident, so hopefully the form continues over the next two rounds.”