Stenson in front

Sweden’s Henrik Stenson leads the field by one stroke after completing two rounds of the rain-hit BMW Asian Open.

Stenson was left with a birdie putt on the 18th yesterday before lightning and rain forced play to be suspended.

Returning to the 18th under overcast conditions, the world number 15 missed a birdie putt from about 10 feet and settled for par to complete a level-par 72.

He is currently five under for the tournament thanks largely to his five-under-par 67 on Thursday.

Stenson leads Scotland’s Paul Lawrie by one stroke after the former Open champion completed his second round early yesterday with a second straight 70.

Lawrie is due to tee off in the third round at 12.30pm local time.

Tied for third place after the second round are Ireland’s Peter Lawrie, Filipino Frankie Minoza, Portugal’s Jose-Filipe Lima and Malaysia’s Danny Chia. Who are on three under for the tournament.

Stenson was pleased to have completed his second round without any dramas as he returned straight back on the course to begin the next round.

“It’s hard to prepare for just the one putt but whatever comes out of it, comes out of it and we then can go out and have a good third round,” said Stenson before going out on to the course.

“I am just looking forward to the rest of the tournament. I am in decent shape and I am looking ahead right through to tomorrow afternoon.”

Stenson admitted that he does take a look at the leaderboard from time to time to see if any player is charging through the field.

“I will have a quick look now and again and if I see that nobody else is making a big move I just keep to my own game and just plod along,” said Stenson.

Meanwhile, Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie completed a second round two-over-par 74 to slip further down the leaderboard and is tied for seventh at this stage. He had a 69 on Thursday.

Montgomerie collected more bogeys then birdies in his second round as he failed to finish strongly when play resumed. The fiery Scotsman began the third round brightly when he birdied the par-four first hole, but has collected a bogey on the third.