McIlroy and Lowry go low in China

Golf:Rory McIlroy turned on the style, yet still could not catch Swede Peter Hanson in the second round of the BMW Masters in Shanghai today.

With Welshman Jamie Donaldson struggling badly after his opening course record 62 — he crashed from four clear to six behind with a 74 — it was two of Europe’s Ryder Cup stars who took over at the top.

World number one McIlroy grabbed seven birdies for a 65 that lifted him to 12 under, but he trails Hanson by two after the 35-year-old’s nine-birdie 64. They have opened up a gap with the rest of the star-studded field. Hanson’s compatriot Robert Karlsson is three strokes further back in third after he also shot 64 to burst out of the pack.

Hanson, the only member of Jose Maria Olazabal’s side not to have something to show for his efforts in Chicago last month, actually began his day’s work with a bogey. But then came a birdie at the long third, four in succession from the fifth and then three more in a row from the 11th.

The five-time European Tour winner added another at the 612-yard 15th, but now he faces a head-to-head battle with a player who won the Shanghai Masters on the same Lake Malaren course 12 months ago and is seeking his fifth victory of the season.

McIlroy turned in 32, picking up shots at the second, third, eighth and ninth, and then had a hat-trick of birdies from the 13th on another day of low scoring.

Ireland’s Shane Lowry, winner of the Portugal Masters two weeks ago, also recorded a 64 and leapt from 48th to joint fourth with Justin Rose, another of the Medinah heroes, Donaldson and another Swede, Alex Noren.

Luke Donald, Martin Kaymer and Nicolas Colsaerts — three more of the European side — are among those one further back on seven under, but Olazabal himself slipped from fourth to 21st with a disappointing 72.

DETAILS

130

Peter Hanson (Swe) 66 64

132

Rory McIlroy

67 65

135 Robert Karlsson (Swe) 71 64

136

Alexander Noren (Swe) 68 68, Justin Rose 68 68,

Shane Lowry

72 64, Jamie Donaldson 62 74

137

Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 69 68, Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 69 68, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 68 69, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 68 69, Luke Donald 70 67, George Coetzee (Rsa) 69 68, David Lynn 69 68, Michael Hoey 67 70

138

Paul Casey 70 68, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 72 66, Ross Fisher 69 69, Paul Lawrie 69 69, Wen-Chong Liang (Chn) 69 69

139

Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa) 67 72, Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 71 68, David Horsey 68 71, Ian Poulter 70 69, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 68 71, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 70 69, Lee Westwood 70 69

140

Francesco Molinari (Ita) 66 74, Richard S Johnson (Swe) 70 70,

Graeme McDowell

69 71

141

Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 72 69, Ashun Wu (Chn) 71 70, Simon Dyson 71 70, Oliver Fisher 74 67, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 70 71, Richard Green (Aus) 70 71, Dong Su (Chn) 70 71, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa) 70 71, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 72 69

142

Michael Campbell (Nzl) 71 71, Anders Hansen (Den) 72 70, Branden Grace (Rsa) 70 72, Danny Willett 72 70, Wen-yi Huang (Chn) 72 70, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 70 72, Simon Khan 71 71

143

Tom Lewis 71 72, Xin-jun Zhang (Chn) 70 73, Sang-moon Bae (Kor) 70 73, Matteo Manassero (Ita) 70 73, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 69 74

144

John Daly (USA) 70 74, Hao-tong Li (Chn) 71 73, Sang-hyun Park (Kor) 72 72, Rich Beem (USA) 74 70, Lian-Wei Zhang (Chn) 76 68, Y.E. Yang (Kor) 74 70

145

Marcel Siem (Ger) 75 70, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 70 75, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind) 73 72

146

Robert Rock 74 72, Joost Luiten (Ned) 73 73, Mu Hu (Chn) 72 74, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 77 69

147

Thorbjorn Olesen (Den) 71 76, Todd Hamilton (USA) 73 74

148

Daxing Jin (Chn) 73 75, Wei-Huang Wu (Chn) 75 73, Mike Weir (Can) 73 75, Shaun Micheel (USA) 76 72

149

Richie Ramsay 75 74, Darren Clarke 73 76, Paul McGinley 74 75

151

Chi-huang Tsai (Tpe) 75 76

152

Hao Yuan (Chn) 76 76, Thomas Levet (Fra) 75 77

153

Andres Romero (Arg) 73 80

155

Yongle Huang (Tpe) 78 77