Putts start to drop as Fasth takes lead

Munich Open:Niclas Fasth and Nick Dougherty, Europe's top two performers at the US Open last week, now find themselves battling for another title in Munich.

After a two-hour storm delay, Fasth - fourth at Oakmont - added a seven-under-par 65 to his opening 67 in the International Open for a two-stroke halfway lead over his Swedish compatriot Peter Hanson.

"Good play here is rewarded with birdies, and good play at Oakmont was rewarded with pars," he said.

Dougherty, meanwhile, had his second successive 68 and then spoke about his added incentive to do well this week. The Liverpool golfer, seventh at Oakmont, admits he will be "gutted" if he is not part of the British Open Championship at Carnoustie next month - especially after his showing in America.

But with two more days like the last two, he may have no need to worry any more. He qualified for the US Open, led after the first day and eventually finished five strokes behind Angel Cabrera.

"It feels like I've won a tournament the way people have been congratulating me and that's obviously a testament to what I achieved," he said.

"I'm desperate now to qualify for the British Open . . . To see your name at the top of the leaderboard in a major, albeit halfway through the second round, felt very good."

But while that earned him a debut in the Masters at Augusta next April, only the winner picks up an Open exemption.

Victory on Sunday would lift him from fourth to first in a mini-Order of Merit, from which two spots at Carnoustie will come after next week's French Open.

Leader Fasth said he was on a high after finishing only two strokes behind Cabrera in the US Open and had found more luck on the Eichenried greens, using up only 25 putts compared to 32 in the first round.

"Obviously last week gave me a bit of confidence," Fasth told reporters. "Yesterday, I played some of my best golf ever but my putts seemed to stop on the edge of the cup. Today they dropped; that was the biggest difference."

While Fasth was able to relax after four gruelling days in the US Open, he pointed out that winning in Munich might not be that much easier than winning at Oakmont.

"It will be just as hard winning here because you need to make a lot of birdies. But you do have a breather here, unlike last week," he said.

Last year's Munich champion, Henrik Stenson, who missed the cut in Oakmont, bounced back to form with a 66 to lie five under.

Stenson is still unsure whether he will finish the tournament, with his wife, Emma, expecting their first child at any moment.

Bernhard Langer (49), free of the neck pain that hindered him in the first round, produced a battling 66 to finish two under.

This week's event is the only German European Tour tournament Langer has never won.

Among the large group on six under are England's Paul Casey and title favourite Ernie Els. They were hoping for better than 70 and 71 respectively.

Ian Poulter's first act on returning to the course was to take a penalty drop from heavy rough right of the fairway. It ended his hopes of surviving the cut, a par five giving him a second successive 73.

Peter Lawrie put himself into contention with a second-round 67 that left him six shots off the lead on 138.

Ireland's David Higgins also made the cut after a 69 gave him a halfway total of 142.

Paul McGinley, Damien McGrane and Gary Murphy all missed out, however.

McGinley finished on 145 after a 71, McGrane on 148 after a second 74 and Murphy on 151 after a disappointing 77.