Garcia marches on

The Europeans made their move on the second day of the Dunlop Phoenix tournament on Kyushu Island with Spaniard Sergio Garcia taking the outright lead ahead of Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn.

Both players shot 65 but Garcia had a one-stroke advantage over his Ryder Cup team-mate from yesterday and so leads the field on 11-under.

He shot five birdies on the front nine to go to the turn in 31 and although he bogeyed the par-four 12th, two birdies in the next three holes put him back on track.

Another dropped shot at the short 186-yard 17th was then followed by birdie four on the 560-yard last.

In contrast, Bjorn dropped his shots on the fourth – a bogey six – and par-four ninth but then strung together a run of five birdies on the back nine, picking up a shot on each of the closing two holes.

That left him joint second with Daisuke Maruyama, who also shot 65, but South Africa’s World Cup winner Trevor Immelman could not match the high scoring today but managed to consolidate his total with a par round of 71 to remain at two under.

Worksop’s Lee Westwood also struggled to get going and despite two birdies in his first seven holes a double-bogey six at the 431-yard ninth dented his confidence and a similar score at the par-four 13th put him further behind, although a birdie on the short 16th reduced the damage.