I shot a second round 67 in the Abu Dhabi Challenge at Abu Dhabi Golf Club, five birdies and 13 pars and no bogeys. I played well, but still left a few out there today – but we all to say that. I am in sole seventh place. A nice follow on from my first round 69 and six back of the leader.

All you can do in any 72-hole tournament is to get into a position for the weekend. It is a marathon – not a sprint. You cannot win a tournament in the first two rounds – but you can certainly lose it.

The key to playing on the Challenge Tour, as I was telling a few of the guys this week, is to get promotion to the DP World Tour as soon as possible, either by winning three events in a season or make the top 20 at the end of the year.

Golf Development Tour

This is not a Tour to make money on, it is not meant to be – it is a Golf Development Tour - either to drop down and then regain your confidence and get back to the main Tour or for the youngsters on their way up the global golfing pyramid.

Then you are on the DP World Tour on merit and hopefully you play your best and the huge rewards that are available are taken by only the best.

It is an impressive leaderboard here this week - that would do justice to any event on the DP World Tour.

I must applaud the Challenge Tour Officials for bringing the Round 3 Tee Times forward due to the heat. It was warm out there today.

I hit a few balls after my round – I am working on a couple of things with my irons. We always have to stay on top of the game to keep us all sharp.

Well done to my fellow Scot and former Bathgate Golf Club Member Louis Gaughan, who works out here at Dubai Hills Golf Club who made the cut on the mark of level par, despite a double bogey seven on his 36th hole. Louis - playing on Tour can be stressful, I cannot think of all the time I have waited around scoreboards and laptops to see if I have made the cut or not. If you are enjoying Dubai and the Teaching Pro role – keep up the good work. All I can say is you have done well, you obviously listened to all the advice I gave you on our Tuesday practice round – except on the last hole!

The third round with have a two tee start at 6.45 am off both the first and tenth tees.

I am off Tee One at 8.25 am with Adam Blomme who is third on the Road to Mallorca and Ricardo Gouveia who has a track record of playing well in the Middle East region. There are two groups behind us – with the leaders out last at 8.45 pm.

Let’s see what will happen tomorrow, and speak to you all after ‘Moving Day.’

Stephen Gallacher - is a 48 year-old Scot, has won four times on the DP World Tour, including both the 2013 and 2014 Dubai Desert Classic