SEOUL, South Korea (AP)—Lee Westwood bounced back from a disappointing first round to post a 4-under 68 at the Ballantine’s Championship on Friday, but the world’s top-ranked player remains six strokes off the lead.
Ben Rumford is out in front on 10 under after shooting a second-round 63. The Australian is three strokes clear of Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain and Soren Kjeldsen of Denmark.
In contrast to the first day, when a final-hole double bogey sent Westwood tumbling down the leaderboard at the Blackstone Golf Club at Icheon, just south of Seoul, the Englishman ended a solid round with a birdie for a total of 140.
Despite the cloudy conditions, it could have been better still as Westwood, who returned to No. 1 last weekend after winning the Indonesian Masters, collected three bogeys.
Rumford started the day 1 under but nine birdies put him ahead at the halfway stage
“I struck a little bit of magic out there today and it’s great to have these shots up your sleeve going into the weekend,” said Rumford, who finished runner-up at the tournament in 2010. “I had seven weeks off before playing in Malaysia and China the past two weeks, so I’m happy about today.”
With rain forecast for the weekend, Rumford was hoping that he can hold on to his lead.
“The more shots up your sleeve the better going into the weekend—if the forecast is bad it’s going to play very, very tricky,” he said.
Kjeldsen carded a 66 to move to a 7-under total of 137, while Jimenez added a 67 to his first-round 70. Welshman Rhys Davies, James Morrison of England and first-round leader Damien McGrane of Ireland were a shot back on 6 under.
Three-time major winner Ernie Els is in danger of missing the cut after a second-round 73 left him at 2 over.
The $2.8 million tournament is co-sanctioned by the Asian tour, the European tour and the Korea PGA.
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Westwood recovers, Rumford leads in South Korea (AP)