Organisers of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic golf championship announced that Friday’s tickets (course only) would remain valid for Saturday after strong winds forced cancellation of play.

The second round of the meet teed off in extremely cold and blustery conditions, and the weather deteriorated further, forcing play to be called off at 14.26 pm.

At that time, Martin Kaymer and Rafa Cabrera Bello were the leaders in the clubhouse at four under after signing for rounds of 69.

South Africa’s George Coetzee was on nine under after completing eight holes, one ahead of overnight leader Sergio Garcia, who rolled in back-to-back birdies on second and third before dropping a shot on the fourth to get to eight under after five holes.

"We have had a fairly challenging day today with the wind," said Tournament Director Mike Stewart. "Winds increased from lunchtime to early afternoon to the point where we had gusts approaching 36 miles an hour and beyond.

"The result was the last hour of play, effectively, before we suspended; it was such that we had a lot of things going on the golf course,'' he said.