NORTH Yorkshire golfer Simon Dyson heads into the weekend tied for 26th place in the Qatar Masters in Doha.

Dyson's second round was sprinkled with five birdies, but dropped shots stalled his progress up the leaderboard.

After a level par opening round, Dyson birdied the 591-yard par-five opening hole to make the perfect start.

He gave a shot back on the par-three third, but reached the turn in 34 after picking up birdies at the par-four fourth and par-five ninth.

He got to three-under with a birdie at the 11th, but bogeys at 14 and 15 undermined his rise through the field. A further birdie at the 16th repaired some of the damage as he looks to chase down the leaders today and tomorrow.

Sweden's Johan Edfors heads the field, with his second round 66 taking him to nine-under for the tournament.

South Africa's Charl Schwartzel and England's Lee Westwood are tied for second on seven-under par.

The cut was expected to rule out those on one-over and worse, with European Ryder Cup player Paul Casey among those missing out on the weekend's action.