McDowell surges into Cologne lead

A run of form which came just too late to earn him a Ryder Cup debut took Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell into the halfway lead at the Linde German Masters in Cologne today.

While first round pacesetter Padraig Harrington fell away with a 75 and three members of next week’s side – Colin Montgomerie, Paul McGinley and Ian Poulter - missed the halfway cut, the 25-year-old took advantage of calmer afternoon conditions to post a sparkling 64 and 11 under par halfway total of 131.