Richie Ramsay fires himself into Shanghai contention

The Aberdonian, who earned his place in the field for the WGC event after winning last season's South African Open, fired a second-round 68 at Sheshan International GC to stand at seven-under-par at the halfway stage.

He trails leader Francisco Molinari by two shots, new world No 1 Lee Westwood by one and headed into the third round tying for third with two South Africans, Ernie Els and Jaco van Zyl.

"A few years ago I didn't have the confidence (to beat players like Westwood, Els, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson] but I now have that self-belief," said Ramsay.

One of his targets this week is to secure a place in the top 60 in the Race to Dubai, thus earning a place in the season-ending World Championship in the Middle East.

"I was just steady like yesterday, not doing anything flash and taking on shots I shouldn't be. I think I only missed two greens and hit a couple close," he added.

Westwood, meanwhile, will resist the temptation to tinker with his game as he heads into the weekend with an excellent chance to cement his position as world No 1.

The Englishman, who dislodged Tiger Woods at the top of the rankings on Monday, carded a two-under-par 70 in his second round to remain one stroke behind Molinari.

Westwood's effort is all the more remarkable given his recent enforced lay-off due to the calf and ankle injuries he has battled with for much of the year.

But, despite surprising himself on his return to competitive action, Westwood stressed it would not alter his approach over the final two rounds.

"I'm going to try and adopt the same attitude over the last two days as I did the first two days, go out there and still just try and enjoy myself," the 37-year-old said.

"I know which parts of my game could be improved but everything's pretty competitive and it's a good performance, the first two rounds, to come back to. I didn't know what to expect and I'm pleasantly surprised how well I've played.

"It's very positive. I haven't done much practice since The Open really because my leg hasn't permitted it, and hadn't played at all in the last three weeks leading in to here.

"Tee to green I've been pretty good, my short game and pitching is a bit rusty, which I expected it to be. Eight under is great as far as I'm concerned."

Westwood added: "I played quite nicely today. I thought it was a little bit trickier, more breeze, the flags were a little bit more tucked away. You could still score well but I thought it was a little bit harder."

Molinari followed up his opening 65 with a more subdued 70. Three birdies in his first seven holes suggested the Italian was well on his way to establishing a comfortable lead, but he was pegged back by bogeys at the ninth and 12th, although he did recover to pick up a shot at the 14th.

"I'm quite happy," the Ryder Cup star said. "It's never easy to follow a round like yesterday.

"I maybe didn't hit the ball as good but I putted well and made a couple of par saves. Nine under going into the weekend is a good score. I played really well on the front nine but then I started missing some shots. I managed to grind and made some up and downs.

"The greens are getting harder and quicker and maybe some of the pin positions were a little trickier."

Els produced the best round of the day as a 65 saw the South African race up the leaderboard into a share of third on seven- under-par. "I felt I needed to shoot a good round to get back into the tournament and that's exactly what I did so I'm very pleased," Els said.

Woods added a 72 to his opening 68 to remain four-under, five shots behind Molinari, the man he beat in the Ryder Cup singles at Celtic Manor. "I struggled a little bit today," said Woods in an e-mail statement.