21 November 2009
Westwood shot a three under par 69 with a near flawless performance to stay ahead of the chasing pack of six which included Race to Dubai leader Rory McIlroy who set the early pace with a brilliant front nine of 31.
But by sunset the lead changed hands dramatically on a day in which several eagles landed on the par-5 seventh hole to the delight of the large holiday crowd who packed the galleries.
Westwood finished the day with a nine under par second round total of 135 to wrest control of the initiative from Padraig Harrington who briefly stayed atop the leaderboard after the initial heroics from young McIlroy who failed to fire in the back nine.
“It was certainly much harder than yesterday (Thursday) with the wind blowing. I was finding it difficult out there. Some days that happens. The birdies don’t come quite so freely and then you have to just dig in there and just grind it out for a while,” said Westwood who opened with two birdies and got another on the 16th before finishing
with a flourish.
“The last hole was playing tough, into the wind. It’s a tricky hole at the best of times. It’s always nice to finish with a birdie,” said the 36-year-old Englishman whose patient game should bring him rich dividends by Sunday as he challenges McIlroy for the $1.5 million Race to Dubai title.
Interestingly Westwood claims never to look at the leaderboard during the competition. “I have no interest in anybody else’s game this week. It’s a pointless exercise really. I feel very calm and happy with myself. All parts of my game feel solid. I enjoy times like this,” said Westwood when asked whether he felt himself in total control of the game going into the weekend. McIlroy bogeyed the 14th and 15th holes to surrender the lead after wreaking havoc in the front nine beginning with two birdies and eagling the seventh. “It was the complete opposite of yesterday (Thursday). Not best on the front nine and then very good on the back nine whereas today it was the other way round,” said the 20-year-old from Northern Ireland.
“I have to think I’m still in a good position going into the weekend to not dwell on the lost opportunities. I’m positive,” said the Dubai Desert Classic winner who is chasing the inaugural Race to Dubai and Dubai World Championship titles.
South African Louis Oosthuizen, Harrington, Colombia’s Camilio Villegas and Spaniard Rafael Cabrera-Bello also eagled the seventh hole. Oosthuizen and England’s Ross McGowan moved up 20 places from the first day to lurk two shots behind Westwood with four others which also includes day one leader Robert Allenby of Australia. The pairing of Oosthuizen and McGowan carded the day’s best score of 66 along with another Englishman Graeme Storm.
McGowan, winner at the Madrid Open, missed out an eagle in the seventh but fired four birdies in the back nine out of total of six, including the final hole to storm into second position. Oosthuizen fired three consecutive birdies from the 14th for a total of five birdies plus and eagle but was upset by a “stupid bogey” on the eighth. “But I came back nicely with three birdies in a row,” said Oosthuizen, joint runner-up at the Abu Dhabi
Open this year.
He also paid a rich compliment to his playing partner McGowan. “He had 20-footer on 18 for birdie and I was thinking, please make it; I want to play together again. He made it and it was good,” he said. “It was good fun. We both get on very well on and off the course and we got off to a great start,” said McGowan who will be paired with Westwood on Saturday. Oosthuizen will start with McIlroy.
Harrington who will partner Villegas was one of several players who double bogeyed the 18th hole. “Definitely it was a tougher day and the shots had to be hit. Sometimes I hit some good shots in the wind and sometimes I lost a bit of focus. But I’m in a good position,” said Harrington who twice hit the ball into the water in the final hole.
