Cool Westwood sets hot pace for the field

LEE WESTWOOD swept into a two-stroke lead at the halfway stage of the Pounds 750,000 Murphy's Irish Open at Druids Glen yesterday and then made us privy to the secret of competitive survival. "Just keep hitting it down the fairway and let things take care of themselves," he said, after a second round of 69 left him on 134, eight under par.

"I never get worried," insisted the 24-year-old, despite the exploits of Michael Jonzon, who broke Westwood's day-old course record with a stunning 64. And the Swede is joined on six under by another Scandinavian, Thomas Bjorn of Denmark.

But one suspects that the menacing figure of Colin Montgomerie, on four under par, will be of greater interest - one daren't suggest concern - to the gifted Englishman as be faces the weekend. Nor is Nick Faldo out of it at level par, with 36 holes of a very difficult course still to be negotiated.

For varying reasons, some players retired and others battled on even for lost causes. But golf has its own, special award system, which Englishman Jon Rob son discovered when he stood at 14-over-par with only two holes to play. Out of the blue, he gained the distinction of becoming the first player to hole in one at the 203-yard 17th, reaching an elusive target on the island green with a four iron.

Indeed there had been another hole-in-one earlier in the day when yet another Englishman David Tapping, hit an eight-iron into the hole at the 159-yard ninth. Other than a bottle of champagne, there was no reward for either ace, despite the presence of a car beside the 17th green.

Meanwhile, against the background of all these scoring exploits, the cut was still made on a seemingly generous four-over-par - two strokes lower than last year.

The 68 survivors included only nine Irishmen out of an original entry of 29. More notable casualties included Bernhard Langer three times winner of the title and Retief Goosen, winner last week's French Open. Ignacio Garrido winner of the German Open on June 22nd, also departed the scene.

But despite a second round of 75, there was glorious survival for Steven Richardson, his second successive cut of the season, after a potentially crippling run of 15 failures. Andrew Oldcorn, however, failed to find a way of erasing the memory of his 72nd hole collapse last year, as he retired yesterday on 11 over par, with four holes of his second round remaining.

And yes, the weathermen were correct. Indeed it was a balmy if overcast day on which rain threatened but happily stayed away. A downside to the weather, however, was that as the greens dried out, they became more difficult to read, because of considerable grain, or nap.

Almost predictably, Faldo was among those to suffer. Indeed his large frame bent over in agony as a five-foot birdie effort at the ninth was pushed past the right edge. And he threw his putter into the air in frustration at the next, where a 25-footer hit the target, but stayed out.

"The greens were both spiky, and grainy and with footprints, he complained afterwards. "All you can do is line up the putts and hit them. Greens like this don't happen overnight."

Westwood also complained about them afterwards, but it is often fascinating to note the extent to which professionals' problems can be of their own making. His third bogey of the round came at the 10th where he chose to use his three-wood - a la Tiger Woods - to chip the ball from the depression to the right of the green.

In the event, the effort was thinned, sending the ball 12 feet past the target, from where Westwood missed the return. "To hell with that theory," said a spectator, representing the views of the entire gallery, one suspected. And as if to emphasise the point, Sam Torrance immediately chipped the orthodox way from a similar position and left the ball a few inches from the lip.

By that stage, Westwood was two over par for the round and in danger of slipping back into the pack. Which made his response all the more impressive. From a superb drive down the long, 522-yard 11th, he head 241 yards remaining to the pin.

Out came the three wood again, this time for the sort of serious work for which it was designed. With a beautifully-balanced swing, Westwood sent the ball almost arrow-straight towards the heart of the green, where it came to rest 30 feet left of the pin. A two-putt birdie was no more than a formality.

On he went to the short 12th, reducing it to an eight iron and a two- foot putt: another birdie. And he carded further birdies at the 14th (three wood, sandwedge, 25-foot putt) and the long 16th, where he chipped to two feet. With a cool head to complement a solid technique, he had climbed back to the top of the leader board.

"I was never really in trouble," he insisted afterwards. And what of his play of the 10th? "A course management error," Westwood replied. Yet there wasn't a hint of cockiness about his general demeanour; he is simply a young man aware of his talent, and more importantly, conscious of his limitations.

Bjorn also comes across as an admirable young man, even if he happens to have a curious clothing sponsorship. "H2O" was the logo on the sleeve of his sweater. "It's actually a Danish company which specialises in sailing clothes," he explained. "But a lot of the guys give me stick about it because of all the rain we've been having on tour."

Starting on the 10th, Bjorn birdied three of his first seven holes to lead the tournament on eight under par. Two putts from off the front edge of the 11th gave him a birdie four and a seven iron to 15 feet produced another at the 12th. Then came a glorious sandwedge third to a foot of the target at the long 16th.

By that stage he had yet to card a bogey. Indeed he finished the round without a bogey. The Dane made a major slip at the difficult sixth, however, where he carded a double-bogey six after being forced to take a penalty drop when he drove into trees on the right.

"I hit 17 greens in regulation again today, but I didn't hole a putt," he said afterwards. "Six

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