Open Championship latest: Magical Norman leads the field

Updated at 1500hrs

TWENTY two years after first lifting the Claret Jug, Greg Norman today set a testing clubhouse target in the second round of the 137th Open Championship.

Norman wanted to keep his expectations "realistically low" after an opening 70, but those hopes were dashed after another 70 gave the 53-year-old a halfway total of 140, level par, and a one-shot lead over Colombia's Camilo Villegas.

Villegas birdied the last five holes to card a superb 65, by four shots the best of the week so far, including a three on the 18th after his approach rattled the pin.

Overnight joint leaders Graeme McDowell and Rocco Mediate carded matching rounds of 73 to lie a shot further back on two over, alongside former US Open champion Jim Furyk who had a second consecutive 71.

Norman, Open winner at Turnberry in 1986 and Sandwich in 1993, is strictly a part-time golfer these days but credits marrying former Wimbledon champion Chris Evert at the end of last month for "revitalising" his life.

The Australian rolled in a long birdie putt on the first and parred the next four holes before falling victim to the treacherous sixth hole, a par four measuring 499 yards playing straight into the wind and unsurprisingly ranked the toughest on the course.

The former world number one found heavy rough with his first two shots and was still 60 yards short of the flag in three on his way to a double bogey, but then birdied the next two holes from 25 and 20ft respectively to get back to one under.

Another run of pars was broken by a bogey on the 17th, and he was in danger of dropping another shot at the last before holing from 20ft for par to a huge roar from the crowd.

Earlier in the day, Mediate recovered from dropping four shots in seven holes from the 11th with a birdie on the 18th for the second day in succession, the American's eight-iron approach ending inches from the hole.

"It was just as windy as yesterday and we had a short deluge on the sixth hole but the golf course is perfect and everyone is playing the same," said Mediate, who lost out on the US Open last month in a play-off to Tiger Woods.

Norman was delighted to drop just one shot over the closing three holes, particularly as the weather then began to deteriorate as forecast.

"I felt it was getting away from me a little bit but I holed good putts on the 16, 17 and 18," said Norman. "The course was a little easier to get at today, if you could get it in the right spot you could get it within 20ft and that's all I did.

"It was tough getting up early this morning after finishing late last night but I'm looking forward to the weekend."

Villegas, making his Open debut and only securing his place in the field when Kenny Perry controversially turned down his place, said: "It was a fun round. I started with two bogeys and if you said to me then I'd shoot five under I would not have believed you.

"But I kept my composure and holed some great putts, especially towards the end."

It looked likely that Norman would lead at the end of the day, but Retief Goosen was again producing excellent golf despite the conditions, the South African opening with four pars to remain one over par.

Justin Rose, fourth here as a 17-year-old amateur in 1998, was also going well, birdies at the fourth and fifth lifting the Englishman to three over.

And defending champion Padraig Harrington was on the same mark after holing out from a bunker on the second for a birdie.