Westwood on course for victory

Lee Westwood soared into the halfway lead at The Players Championship in Florida today as his decision to put golf's richest event back on his schedule paid handsome dividends.

Europe's number one, who has been part of the field at Sawgrass only three times in the last seven years, added a sparkling 65 to his opening 67 for a 12-under-par halfway total of 132 which was only two outside Greg Norman's tournament record.

With Phil Mickelson, the man who pushed him into second place at The Masters, and world number one Tiger Woods only three-under and not in the leading 40, Westwood now looks a good bet for his first win in America since 1998.

Nor is Westwood under threat from last week's Quail Hollow winner Rory McIlroy or three-time major winner Padraig Harrington. They both headed out on one over.

A first prize of more than $1.6m (€1.25m) is on offer this weekend and the second day ended with Westwood one ahead of Italian Francesco Molinari, Japan's Ryuji Imada and American Heath Slocum - not a trio that will strike fear into the world number four.

The Worksop golfer, who was third, third and second in the last three Majors said: "I keep coming back. Don't keep knocking me - I'm not going to go away.

"I'm just going to keep trying until one of them goes my way."

He does not rate The Players the "unofficial fifth Major", but did say: "A victory here would be incredibly important.

"You get that sort of tingle when it's getting close."

He did not play last year, however, because he did not want another trip to the States after playing in Korea just before.

This time he warmed up in North Carolina and after taking a share of third spot on the opening day he stepped up the pace with an eagle and six birdies.

The eagle came with a brilliant drive and five-iron to three feet on the 16th, the hole where he had been in the water for a bogey six on his previous visit.

Molinari, who chose the event ahead of his home Italian Open, matched Westwood's 65, while Imada and Slocum shot 66.

Woods, who missed the cut by eight shots last week, hit ugly drives on the 11th and 14th and dropped three strokes on them, but he also had four birdies in a weird six-hole stretch.

Three under at the turn he had hopes of making up more lost ground on the front nine, but could not make any further progress and so will start his third round nine adrift.

At least he had stayed around for 36 more holes, though, and avoided what would have been a second successive early exit for the first time in his career.

"I wasn't quite as sharp," he said after what was only his eighth round since the sex scandal which sent him into hiding in November.

"It's still a process. The three-wood on 14 (into water) I tried to stop, but I got to the point where I couldn't.

"I felt like I putted better, but unfortunately I was just a little bit too far away from the holes."

McIlroy missed the cut on his debut last year and said after a 72 for one-over: "You can't see fairways when you are on the tee and I find it hard to line up."

The event is held on the same course each year and when reminded he had better get used to it now he is in the world's top 10 the 21-year-old Irishman replied: "If it wasn't a nine and a half million dollar event I might not have to."

Harrington ran up a double bogey at the sixth - his 15th - when his shot from a bunker finished high up in a palm tree and could not be identified.

That said, the Dubliner commented: "A three-putt on the 11th (for a par) cost me dearly. Things didn't really go my way, not that I played fantastic."

Mickelson, needing a win with Woods outside the first five to take the number one spot for the first time, also took six on the 11th and his only birdies came on the 10th and 16th.

Luke Donald followed up his 67 with a 69 to be joint sixth on eight-under, while McIlroy's fellow Irishman Graeme McDowell was another in with a superb 65 and that lifted him to seven-under and joint 10th spot.

Oliver Wilson (70) is four under, but Ian Poulter, Brian Davis and Paul Casey were knocked out right at the end of the day on one under when American John Merrick birdied the last.

Ross Fisher and Justin Rose both bogeyed the last for level par, with Greg Owen on the same mark.

He paid the price for his seven at the short 17th in round one, while Scot Martin Laird exited on four-over.