Lee Westwood cruises into 11-shot lead in Thailand

LEE Westwood followed his career-best 12-under-par 60 with a 64 yesterday to take a commanding 11-stroke lead at the halfway stage of the Thailand Golf Championship.

The world No 3 had eight birdies in his second straight bogey-free round at Amata Spring Country Club to reach 20-under overall, having had ten birdies and an eagle in the first round on Thursday.

“Today almost felt better than yesterday,” Westwood said. “It was quite tough out there. The scoring is pretty tricky.”

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Masters champion Charl Schwartzel of South Africa had a 66 yesterday to lie second on nine-under alongside Michael Thompson of the United States.

Former Open champion John Daly followed his opening-round 65 with a one-over 73 to slip back to fourth at six-under, 14 shots adrift of the leader.

With two rounds remaining, Westwood is within sight of Ernie Els’ record winning margin on the Asian Tour. Els won the 2005 Asian Open by 13 shots.

“I’ll try to keep the lead irrelevant and keep on playing as I’ve been playing,” Westwood said. “I’m playing pretty well and I want to maintain that and keep making birdies and no bogeys.”

Schwartzel eagled the 15th and had six birdies but bogeyed the eighth and 12th. He acknowledged he only has a slim chance of catching Westwood. “I feel like Lee is playing his own tournament and we are playing something else,” he said. “Halfway through it now, I still feel like I’ve got a very outside chance.”

Open champion Darren Clarke, Sergio Garcia and Ryo Ishikawa all narrowly made the cut at three-over but Thailand’s top-ranked player Thongchai Jaidee retired after 13 holes yesterday because of a back injury.

All three Scots in the field missed out on the final 36 holes. After opening with a 71, Dubai-based Ross Bain slipped to a 79 to finish on six-over. Simon Yates, who lives in Thailand, carded the same second-day score to finish five shots further back while Michael Stewart’s full pro debut ended in disappointment after a second 79 left him fourth last in the 128-strong field.

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