GOLF:WORLD NUMBER four Rory McIlroy sacrificed a proper lunch yesterday to sharpen up his swing and it paid off when he climbed into contention at the Dutch Open.

A five-under-par 65 for a five-under total of 135 took him within two strokes of the second-round clubhouse lead held by India’s Shiv Kapur (67).

Briton Stephen Dodd and Germany’s Marcel Siem are a shot better than Kapur with five and seven holes respectively still to play when the unfinished round is completed on Saturday morning.

McIlroy said he had not been at his best after finishing off a first-round 70 yesterday morning. The effort was badly disrupted a day earlier by inclement weather and vandalised greens.

That left him trailing five strokes off the lead and even though he only had 40 minutes before returning to the course, the 22-year-old Northern Irishman made for the practice range to do some swing tinkering.

“It was worth not having a proper lunch,” said the US Open champion. “I just gave myself 10 minutes for a quick bite and went out on the range. I’m trying to get my ball flight more neutral and it seemed to work.”

While he played better, McIlroy did ride his luck. He survived a shot close to out of bounds on the sixth, his 16th hole, and was given relief at the ninth when his ball landed on a termite mound close to trees.

“I was really lucky because I then had a clear shot to the green,” McIlroy said. “But I still feel as though I’ve got ants in my pants.”

World number two Lee Westwood looked as though he would be alongside McIlroy but a three-putt on his penultimate hole for a 66 left him three behind Kapur.

Westwood was close to breaking point after he and playing partner Robert-Jan Derksen lost the third member of their group, Swede Peter Hanson, who retired with a stomach upset.

“Having to wait on every hole as a two-ball was the hardest thing of the day,” Westwood said. “I was getting so frustrated I would have chewed my ball in half or broken a few clubs if it had gone on any further.”

Kapur, lying 113th on Europes Race to Dubai money list, lifted his moderate season by notching a 67 for a seven-under aggregate of 133, one stroke better than Briton Gary Orr (66) and South African James Kingston (68).

Ireland’s Gareth Maybin was eight shots off the pace following a 72 for a total of 141 while Peter Lawrie had a forgettable day and shot a 74 for a 147 total which won’t make the projected cut.

Second Round Scores

(British unless stated, Irish in bold )

Note: Play suspended due to bad light. 74 players will start second round at 8.15am Saturday

133– S Kapur (Ind) 66 67.

134– G Orr 68 66, J Kingston (SA) 66 68.

135– R McIlroy70 65, O Floren (Swe) 71 64

136– M Lundberg (Swe) 69 67, J Huldahl (Den) 67 69, R Rock 70 66, R Davies 67 69, L Westwood 70 66, J Edfors (Swe) 66 70, S Khan 66 70

137– RJ Derksen (Ned) 68 69, D Boshart (Ned) 67 70, D Drysdale 70 67, S Webster 70 67, N Fasth (Swe) 70 67, K Ferrie 70 67, JM Lara (Spa) 68 69

138– R Bland 68 70, D Horsey 69 69, O Henningsson (Swe) 68 70

139– R Kind (Ned) 71 68, M Lafeber (Ned) 68 71, S Wakefield 68 71, B Rumford (Aus) 68 71, T Norret (Den) 69 70, Paul Lawrie 71 68, A Forsyth 68 71, I Garrido (Spa) 70 69, B Lane 70 69, F Andersson Hed (Swe) 70 69

140– A Velasco (Spa) 68 72, R Fisher 66 74, E Tage Johansen (Nor) 70 70, M Korhonen (Fin) 71 69, R Cabrera Bello (Spa) 70 70

141– JM Singh (Ind) 71 70, D Howell 69 72, G Maybin69 72, I Van Weerelt (Ned) 71 70, N Dougherty 71 70, D Willett 70 71, G Havret (Fra) 70 71

142– A Canizares (Spa) 72 70, R McEvoy 72 70, W Ormsby (Aus) 72 70, A Garcia-Heredia (Spa) 71 71, G Storm 72 70 .

Selected others . . . .

147 Peter Lawrie73 74