Dubliner Lawrie two off Asian lead

Scotland's Paul Lawrie was holding down second place on the leaderboard as lightning forced play to be suspended at the half-way stage of the BMW Asian Open.

The 1999 Open champion trails overnight leader Henrik Stenson by one shot after the Swede recovered from a poor start to put himself back into title contention.

Stenson is currently five-under for the tournament with one hole left to play. Play will resume at 8am local time.

Lawrie posted a second straight two-under-par 70, playing in blustery conditions. He collected birdies on the seventh, ninth, 13th and 18th holes but bogeyed the fifth and 14th holes to return one of the best rounds around the par-72 Tomson Golf Club.

Tied for third were Danny Chia of Malaysia, Filipino Frankie Minoza and Portugal's Jose-Filipe Lima on three-under for the tournament. Chia carded a 70 as did Lima, while Minoza shot a level-par 72.

Stenson, who shot a five-under-par 67 on Thursday, held a slender one-shot lead going into the second round only to briefly lose the outright lead to Lawrie after the Swede dropped a shot on the second hole.

The world number 15 dropped further shots on the eighth and 10th but pulled his game together to birdie the fifth, eighth and then 13th holes. He then parred the next four holes and was on a birdie putt on the 18th before play was halted at 4.45pm local time.

Ireland's Peter Lawrie was in the thick of the action as he carded a level-par 72 to go three-under for the tournament.

Lawrie complained of the windy conditions, saying it was a tough day for golfers

"It was very cold this morning and then the wind got up and it was very hard to get close to some of the flags even though the greens were superb. I played nicely and 72, I have to be happy with that," said Lawrie, who shot an opening round 69 on Thursday.

"I played well and hit a lot of shots into about 15 feet, but they are hard greens to read and unfortunately, I got a bit brain dead on the second hole.

"I hit my first shot into the hazard but I wasn't in the water, chopped it out, then hit my next shot on to the fairway but then hit my next shot into another hazard. So it was a bit silly and I did well to make a seven [double bogey on the second] in the end."

Nick Faldo continued to struggle on the course as the six-time major winner missed the cut. He managed a solitary birdie on the 12th as opposed to a double bogey and four bogeys after posting a disastrous five-over-par 77, which followed his disappointing two-over 74 on Thursday.

The projected cut is three-over.

Scotland's Colin Montgomerie also struggled in the conditions. Montgomerie, who is attempting to return to winnings ways after suffering a slump in form, completed the front nine one-over. He collected two birdies but offset his title chances by bogeying four holes and remains one-under for the tournament. PA