DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Shortly after Tiger Woods withdrew Friday, the Dubai Desert Classic was hit by strong winds that brought down some trees and forced the second round to be suspended.
Martin Kaymer and Rafael Cabrera-Bello, tied at 4 under after both shooting 69s, had the lowest scores after two full rounds. But George Coetzee was at 9 under after eight holes at the Emirates Golf Club and overnight leader Sergio Garcia was at 8 under.
Woods withdrew before starting his second round with back spasms.
Kaymer criticized the decision to suspend play.
"Hard to understand the difference between the morning play and now, therefore even more surprised about the decision @EuropeanTour," the German wrote on Twitter.
Coetzee, however, supported the decision.
"We saw this one tree go down. You get a warning it's about to collapse and start squeaking. I was walking under the trees hearing the squeaking and thinking, this could be me," the South African said. "It's a little bit dangerous out there with the trees collapsing and stuff. Hopefully, tomorrow will be better."
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