Doha: Lee Westwood could not have placed a marker between his ball and the cup, yet by that tiny measure did the world No 1 offer up his ranking to Martin Kaymer? Westwood was required to lean a little harder on his ball to record the eagle he needed on the last hole to make the cut at the Qatar Masters.
It stayed up, presenting Kaymer with an outside chance of planting his standard on the summit of world golf today.
The world No 2 must finish at least second to take Westwood down. After stealing into the weekend only one shot ahead of Westwood, Kaymer must find the form of Abu Dhabi, where he won by eight shots, to have a chance. Ten shots adrift of the leader Markus Brier, Kaymer will be out early for his third round.
At least Westwood can enjoy a lie-in. It was the first time Westwood had missed a cut for 13 months, and only the eighth time in a decade that a world No 1 had done so. He returned from his winter break struggling for rhythm and timing in Abu Dhabi.
