Dubai World Championship: News of Round 2

Westwood leads by two,

thanks to late mistakes by

McIlroy and Harrington

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Lee Westwood is back on course for victory on Sunday at the Dubai World Championship presented by: DP World following a day of amazing twists and turns at the Earth course.
Westwood leads by two shots on nine under par at the halfway stage after a second round 69, but only thanks to dramatic mistakes by current Order of Merit leader Rory McIlroy and then Padraig Harrington.
McIlroy, who started the day two behind Westwood and three shy of overnight leader Robert Allenby's total of seven under par, had led by two after a riotous front nine 31, but three-putted the 14th and 15th in coming home in 38.
That left Harrington out ahead on nine under, but he fired two balls into the water on the 620yd par-5 18th hole at the Greg Norman-designed course.
The three-time Major Championship winner had to settle for a double bogey 7 as Westwood then rolled in a long birdie putt on the same hole shortly afterwards to extend his lead heading into the final two rounds.
“I'm delighted with 69,” Westwood said. “It was certainly much harder than yesterday with the wind blowing.
“Some days you struggle to get things going, the birdies don't quite come so freely and you have to just dig in there and just grind it out for a while.
“It was a case of patience being a virtue, and all good things come to those who wait. The last hole was playing tough but it's always nice to finish with a birdie, it makes dinner taste sweeter.”
McIlroy - who currently leads Westwood in The Race to Dubai standings by over €128,000 - now shares second sport with five other players, Harrington, Ross McGowan, Camilo Villegas, Louis Oosthuizen and Allenby.
McIlroy, 20, had originally threatened to romp away after his front nine.
“It was a perfect way to start to get myself right back on top of the leaderboard,” McIlroy said.
“I felt as if I played the back nine okay, just those couple of short putts on 14 and 15.
“The most disappointing thing was 14 and 15 are birdie holes and to bogey them, you are sort of losing three strokes. But I'm still in a good position and I’m positive going into the weekend.”
Making up the rest of the top 10 are Spaniards Rafael Cabrera-Bello and Sergio Garcia, Liang Wen-chong from China and Thomas Aiken (South Africa) in a tie for eighth on six under par.
Martin Kaymer and Ross Fisher, the other two players still in with a chance of the Order of Merit title, sat down the leaderboard on two under par and level par respectively.
Kaymer still had high hopes when he went to the turn in 34 and with two to play stood four under, but a bad chip on the 17th was followed by a trip to the water on the last. Both led to bogeys and a second successive round of 71.
“I played a little bit more solid than yesterday, but I couldn't get the putts in the hole and that was a little frustrating,” Kaymer said.
“But you can shoot six or seven under on this golf course, and I think I can do that twice, so I'm not out of it yet.”
McIlroy, who started the day two behind Westwood and three shy of overnight leader Stuart Appleby’s total of seven under par, had led by two after a riotous front nine 31, but three-putted the 14th and 15th in coming home in 38.
That left Harrington out ahead on nine under, but he fired a two balls into the water on the 620yd par-5 18th hole at the Greg Norman course.
The three-time Major Championship winner had to settle for a double bogey 7 as Westwood then rolled in a long birdie putt on the same hole to extend his lead heading into the final two rounds
McIlroy had earlier roared into the lead with a dazzling front nine of 31.
Joint fifth after an opening 68, Rory eagled the 572yd seventh and birdied the first, second and ninth.
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Lee Westwood had moved into a two-stroke lead by matching McIlroy's start, but then had to be content with five successive pars.
That included the long seventh, where McIlroy's approach had rolled down a slope to within four feet of the flag.
McIlroy had said he was happy not to be paired with Westwood after he lost their head-to-head by two on Thursday, but it looked as if could be back together before the tournament is finished.
Overnight leader Robert Allenby bogeyed the first and fourth to drop down to five under.

SECOND-ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 144 (2x72)
135 Lee Westwood 66 69
137 Rory McIlroy 68 69, Robert Allenby (Aus) 65 72, Camilo Villegas (Col) 66 71, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 71 66, Padraig Harrington 68 69, Ross McGowan 71 66
138 Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 68 70, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 71 67, Wen-chong Liang (Chn) 68 70, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 71 67
139 Alexander Noren (Swe) 70 69, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 70 69, Johan Edfors (Swe) 69 70
140 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 72 68, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 69 71, Gareth Maybin 71 69, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 72 68, Scott Strange (Aus) 73 67
141 Adam Scott (Aus) 68 73, Nick Dougherty 69 72, Peter Lawrie 71 70, Bradley Dredge 70 71
142 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 70 72, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 73 69, Anders Hansen (Den) 73 69, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 71 71, Anthony Wall 71 71, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 71 71, Thomas Levet (Fra) 73 69, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 71 71
143 Peter Hanson (Swe) 72 71, Oliver Wilson 71 72, Jamie Donaldson 73 70, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa) 70 73, Simon Dyson 70 73, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 70 73, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 72 71
144 Chris Wood 66 78, Damien McGrane 74 70, Robert Rock 74 70, Ross Fisher 73 71, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 69 75, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 70 74, Graeme Storm 78 66
145 David Drysdale 72 73, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 73 72, Ian Poulter 71 74, Luke Donald 73 72
146 James Kingston (Rsa) 73 73, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 74 72, Graeme McDowell 76 70, Soren Hansen (Den) 73 73, Danny Willett 76 70
147 Justin Rose 72 75, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 75 72
148 Steve Webster 75 73, Ernie Els (Rsa) 74 74