Westwood finds his touch

The rise and rise of Lee Westwood dramatically continued as he set a 10-under-par target in yesterday's Scandinavian Masters second round.

Westwood, way down in 84th place in the money list following a depressing run of four missed cuts in his past six outings, suddenly found the touch that swept him to European number one last summer.

Home in 31, with six birdies in a swashbuckling last eight holes for a repeat of his opening 67, he suddenly looked like the man who won five times to mark the millennium with record £2million winnings.

It edged him a stroke clear of Colin Montgomerie (69), the man whose seven-year reign as European number one he brought to an end last October, and two clear of Darren Clarke (70), the Ryder Cup points leader.

"It was a much better 67 than yesterday's," Westwood said. "Finishing with four birdies proved I haven't lost the habit of being in contention.

"You don't win tournaments playing well and thinking badly - you're more likely to win by thinking well and playing badly."

Westwood admitted at the start of the week that his focus and attitude has suffered after taking a long break over the winter around the birth of his first child, when he sat back and enjoyed his success for the first time.

"I needed time to enjoy the things I had accomplished," he added. "The season is so long these days that I've never had time to enjoy the things away from the course that you have accomplished on the course."

It was a pity that the Ryder Cup captain Sam Torrance, so sure that Westwood was suffering only a temporary lull, will not be around for the weekend. Torrance missed the cut, slumping to a 78 after matching Westwood's opening effort.

Alongside Montgomerie is the young Englishman Ian Poulter, round in 65 despite two dropped shots on the home straight.

Poulter sports eccentric ear-to-mouth sideburns "so I'll get noticed" but after yesterday's brilliant effort he need have no fears on that score.

The 25-year-old piled up nine birdies but it was a Jekyll and Hyde performance as he mixed magic on the greens with a spate of wayward drives.

Poulter would have ended level with Westwood but for a third excursion at the 18th into the woods which claustrophobically narrow 15ft fairways on a course that, paradoxically, offers a clear view of distant Denmark from three links-like holes beside the Oresund.

A 40-footer for par saved him at the 14th after he birdied seven of the first 12 holes but he took five at 15 and 18 after further trips into the trees to live up to his dismal European Tour season rankings of 104th in driving accuracy and 110th in greens in regulation.

Poulter, a winner in last year's Italian Open and this year's Moroccan Open, has been invited to the US PGA Championship in Atlanta this month with its jackpot of Ryder Cup points, and now has a real chance of qualifying for the September event.

With Philip Price, eighth in the rankings, and the Swedes Matthias Gronberg (13th) and Robert Karsson (16th) also failing to make the weekend, yesterday's effort took on real significance.

Miguel Angel Jimenez and Andrew Coultart (11th and 12th in the table) are absent this week so the opportunity for Poulter (20th in the table) to leap into contention is real indeed.

Clarke, who heads the qualifiers, has the chance to do a neighbour a good turn by adding the Scandinavian title to last month's European Open crown.

Paul McGinley, with whom he shares a garage gym in Sunningdale, Berkshire, currently occupies 10th spot in the rankings but has decided to take a week off.

Clarke, meanwhile, still has his sights set on catching US Open champion Retief Goosen at the top of the Order of Merit despite trailing the South African by almost £500,000.

"I always want to win, and to win on a golf course as good as this would be a huge bonus," said the Ulsterman.

"I think I can still catch Retief. I'm hitting the ball the way I want to at the moment, now I need to knock in a few more putts.

"I had my chances to win the Order of Merit last year, but I was just beaten by a better player over the season."