US Open: Donald keeps himself in the frame

LUKE Donald and Lee Westwood kept British names near the top of the US Open leaderboard last night – the former carding a second successive par 71 at Torrey Pines to be in a good position, just three strokes off the lead with the leaders yet to tee off at the US Open. Westwood was one-under-par through eight holes, maintaining the standard he set with a 70 on the opening day.

At two under par through 10 holes, Donald was one stroke off the lead but a pair of bogeys later and he was three back with some work to do.

Donald had a pair of birdies on the front nine and started the back nine with a par at the tenth hole.

He then bogeyed the par-3 11th after missing the green and failing to get up and down. He dropped another shot at 12 after his approach found the deep rough to the left of the green.

He chipped out to about 15 feet but missed his par putt to drop to even par for the day. But Donald rebounded with a birdie at 13 to get to one under and he stayed there until a bogey at the par-3 16th. He closed with a pair of pars and was at even par on 142 after 36 holes. "I'm happy with the position I'm in," said the Englishman.

"I'm not sure what the guys going out later are going to do, and certainly there is a three or four-under round out there if you play well. But I will be in good position for the weekend and I am looking forward to the challenge."

Rocco Mediate was another of the few players able to get the better of a tricky course, but the ominous figure of the fit-again Tiger Woods was still in contention.

Mediate played his first seven holes in two under to take a three-shot lead during the second round.

Just six players remained under par as the second round started to wind to a close, with Mediate was at four under, two ahead of Stuart Appleby and three strokes clear of Westwood, D J Trahan and Davis Love III.

Robert Allenby, Ernie Els and 2006 US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy were each in the clubhouse at 142.

Woods appeared ready to make a charge after a few early slip-ups, and with the course toughening up and no-one in the field pulling away, the world No 1, although not yet at his devastating best, was in with a chance of climbing up the leaderboard by the close.

He started with a bogey at the 10th and had another at the par-4 12th.

Woods then split the fairway with his drive on the par-5 13th and hit a 5-wood from 266 yards to within eight feet. He made the putt for eagle and was back at even-par for the day and one over for the tournament.

After a tough opening round, Padraig Harrington found his form and had the best round of the day yet when he signed for a four-under 67.

Harrington, the reigning Open champion, carded a 78 on Thursday and entered the second round knowing it would be a battle for him to make the cut.

He looked well on his way to bettering that score after playing his first nine on in two under.

He started his round on the back nine and made his first birdie at the par-5 13th, adding a birdie at the 18th.

Harrington maintained his strong form coming home, birdieing the second and seventh and just missing from 12 feet for birdie at nine.

With a three-over 145 to his name at halfway, Harrington should easily make the cut and have a shot at making a move up the leaderboard if he can repeat his best form in the remaining two rounds. "I had the odd missed shot but I was holing the putts that I was missing yesterday," Harrington said. "I still made four birdies like yesterday but just holed the odd par putt here and there.

"When you are doing that, it makes it so much easier to hit your shots into the greens. You are so much more accepting of the odd bad shot you hit when you are holing the putts and that was what I did today."

Donald had started the day three strokes behind Kevin Streelman and Justin Hicks but both Streelman and Hicks have tumbled down the leaderboard. Hicks was five over through nine to fall to two over in total, while Streelman went off in the early groups and stumbled to a 77.

The Scottish challenge fizzled out as Colin Montgomerie could only respond with a 77 following his opening 79 and compatriot Alastair Forsyth was only able to shave three shots off his first-round score of 76.

Another major disappointment as Poulter pulls out injured

IAN Poulter was forced to withdraw from the US Open during the second round last night after playing 15 holes with an apparent wrist injury.

Poulter had posted consecutive double-bogeys on the 14th and 15th holes and was seven over for the round and 14 over for the tournament.

Playing partner Luke Donald, who shot 71 yesterday, said he had no idea why Poulter cut his round short. "He just said he was off so he left us," Donald said. "He just said goodbye and good luck."

A USGA official said that he was aware that Poulter was having issues with a wrist injury and Poulter confided as much to Paul Casey, who was in the group with Poulter and Donald. Poulter is the fourth player to withdraw from this year's event and the second to do so in the middle of a round. Mark Calcavecchia withdrew on Thursday during the first round while Sean O'Hair and Brett Wetterich withdrew before play started. Poulter, who opened with a 78 on Thursday, finished tied for 36th at last year's US Open at Oakmont and now has just one top-20 finish in five starts in the season's second major.

Australian Geoff Ogilvy, the 2006 champion, failed to capitalise on a string of birdie chances last night but was still satisfied with his position after the second round of the US Open.

"Should have had an easier time of it," Ogilvy, the 2006 champion, told reporters after posting a two-over-par 73 in his early tee time to stand on level-par 142 for the tournament after an opening 69.

"The greens were definitely softer when you play in the morning and they definitely roll a bit nicer when you play in the morning.

"But 13 tee was back and the third tee is back, and it's really hard. I'm happy with what I got."

Less happy was reigning champion Angel Cabrera, who added a 76 to his opening 79 en route to an early exit.

SCORES

(US unless stated, par 71)

141 D Love III 72 69, D J Trahan 72 69

142 R Allenby (Aus) 70 72, E Els (Rsa) 70 72, G Ogilvy (Aus) 69 73, L Donald (Eng) 71 71

143 J Rollins 75 68

144R Dinwiddie (Eng) 73 71, C Villegas (Col) 73 71, S Verplank 72 72

145 R Sabbatini (Rsa) 73 72, J Merrick 73 72, B Bryant 75 70, S Cink 72 73, M Kaymer (Ger) 75 70, K Streelman 68 77, R Goosen (Rsa) 76 69, P Harrington (Ire) 78 67

146 H Mahan 72 74, S Garcia (Spa) 76 70

147 A Baddeley (Aus) 74 73, J Leonard 75 72, M Weir (Can) 73 74, J Mills (Can) 72 75

148 D Toms 76 72, A Svoboda 77 71, I Leggatt (Can) 72 76, J Mallinger 73 75, T Immelman (Rsa) 75 73, B Jobe 73 75, R McGowan (Eng) 76 72, S Ames (Can) 74 74

149 P Casey (Eng) 79 70, V Singh (Fij) 71 78, J Lyle (Aus) 75 74, C Campbell 77 72, J Quinney 79 70, A Dresser 76 73, A Forsyth (Sco) 76 73, B Snedeker 76 73

150 J.B. Holmes 75 75, Z Johnson 76 74, S Sterling 80 70, J Turcott 77 73, T Taniguchi (Jpn) 74 76

151 R Fisher (Eng) 73 78, B Curtis 75 76, R Rashell 81 70, S Marino 73 78, J Rose (Eng) 79 72, M O'Meara 75 76, J Ellis 77 74, R Sterne (Rsa) 76 75

Selected others: 155 N Dougherty (Eng) 78 77, A Cabrera (Arg) 79 76; 156 Colin Montgomerie (Sco) 79 77; 159 P Archer (Eng) 78 81, G Wolstenholme (Eng) 83 82