Justin Rose shot a three-under 68 on Friday for a four-shot lead over European Order of Merit rival Padraig Harrington at the halfway point of the season-ending Volvo Masters.
Rose, who was one over at the turn, had four birdies over his last nine holes. At four-under 138 after two rounds, the Englishman was the only player in the 55-man field under par.
"I'm very focused right now and I'm staying in the moment and that's why I'm playing so well," Rose said. "We're nowhere near the finish line, so it's still very much just going about my business and the same old boring stuff, one shot at a time."
PHOTO: AP
Harrington, who won the Order of Merit money title here last year, had birdies at the fourth and fifth holes before a bogey at the last gave him a 71 for the day and even-par for the tournament.
"It's very much game on for the tournament and game on for the Order of Merit," the Irishman said. "It's exactly the situation I was hoping for at the start of the week and hopefully myself and Justin can carry it on tomorrow and sort it out sometime late Sunday [today] afternoon."
Harrington, the British Open champion, leads Rose by only 657 euros (US$950) in the European Tour standings.
PHOTO: AFP
Order of Merit leader Ernie Els, who opted to play in Singapore on the Asia Tour this week, holds a 217,295 euros advantage over Harrington.
Rose nearly had a hole-in-one at the par-three third for the second straight day, sticking it close to the pin before making birdie.
But after missing a 2m-putt for birdie at the next and enduring a poor putting stroke for bogeys at the fifth, seventh and ninth, Rose decided to play it safe.
Rose pitched close before knocking down birdie putts of 2m and 4m at the 10th and 11th, the latter giving him the lead for good.
Though his 3m birdie putt at the 16th didn't fall, he made a 8m-putt for a birdie four at the next hole. He decided to lay up rather than risk the water that guards the green.
Harrington had 11 straight pars in a much more consistent round after Thursday's up-and-down day.
First-day leader Graeme McDowell (75) of Northern Ireland was joined by Spain's Miguel Angel Jimenez (70), Soren Kjeldsen (70) of Denmark and India's Jyoti Randhawa (70) for third at one over.
With the soft course playing so tough with strong winds that are not likely to let up, organizers said the rough inside the ropes would be slightly lowered for the final two days.
Niclas Fasth (70) barely kept his Order of Merit hopes alive with an eagle-three at No. 17, the Swede going into the clubhouse at three-over to trail Rose by six. Fasth and fellow Swede Henrik Stenson (78) can only capture the European Tour's money title by taking the first-place winner's cheque of 666,660 euros. Stenson trailed Rose by 16 strokes.
Scott Verplank birdied six of his first nine holes, then had pars the rest of the way for a second straight six-under 66 on Friday that gave him a one-shot lead over Tad Ridings, Stephen Ames and Ryan Armour after two rounds of the Children's Miracle Network Classic.
"I got out of rhythm just a little bit and kind of struggled to find it," said Verplank, who was at 12-under 132. "But I got on such a nice roll in the first nine holes that I didn't just kill myself by making a bunch of pars."
Unlike Verplank, who is 15th on the US golf tour's order of merit, Ridings has split time playing on the regular tour and the developmental Nationwide Tour. He entered this week 210th on the order of merit and needing victory to keep his card for next year.
"I'm not really thinking of anything besides just playing this tournament," he said.
Ames, who captured The Players Championship last year, had seven straight birdies on the Disney World Resort's Palm Course before a three-putt bogey at the end put him at 63.
Armour, who is safe at No. 119 on the money list, shot a 64 on the Palm.
The top 125 on the order of merit retain their cards for next year.
The group at 10-under 134 included Justin Leonard (67), Sean O'Hair (66) and first-round leader J.P. Hayes (69). The first two are trying to get in the Masters, while Hayes needed a good week at No. 123 on the order of merit.
A rare day of sunshine brought some tremendous play by those who desperately needed it. Duffy Waldorf, at No. 167 on the money list, was on the verge of missing the cut until he birdied the last two holes to qualify for the final two rounds. Glen Day is at No. 163, and he ran off a string of birdies late in the afternoon for a 67 to qualify for the weekend.
It seems like everyone will keep playing. The field is so bunched that 89 players made the cut.
That doesn't include Ted Purdy, who was at No. 125 on the money list. He made a meaningless birdie on the last hole, but is assured of finishing outside the top 125. Purdy was 110th on the money list when the Fall Series began, played all seven events and still didn't make it.
Japan's top-ranked player Momoko Ueda shot a 67 to tie for the lead with Britain's Laura Davies in the US LPGA Tour Mizuno Classic golf tournament yesterday.
Starting the day five strokes off the Briton in 10th place, the 21-year-old sank six birdies against one bogey for a two-round total of seven-under 137.
Davies, who is yet to win a title this season, carded three birdies and one bogey, but received a two-stroke penalty for playing from the wrong spot.
Maria Hjorth of Sweden, Reilley Rankin of the US and Japan's Mie Nakata are one stroke adrift, on 138, followed by Jeong Jang of South Korea, who shares sixth place with Japan's Erina Hara and Chie Arimuraon, also of Japan.
Defending champion Karrie Webb of Australia hit a disastrous 76 to be tied in 61st place with local hope Ai Miyazato.
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