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| March 8, 2003 | Saturday | Muharram 4, 1424 |
Danish star Bjorn back in contention
DUBAI, March 7: A rare lapse in concentration cost Ernie Els the outright lead at the halfway stage of the Dubai Desert Classic on Friday.
Rolling along in fine style atop the leaderboard, the South African dumped his second to the par-five 18th into a lake and failed to get down in two from his drop leaving him with bogey and a four-under 68.
That dropped him into a tie for the lead on 10-under-par with Mikka Ilonen of Finland, David Lynn of England and Alastair Forsyth of Scotland.
Shooting for his seventh win in nine outings, the World No 2 opened with two birdies on the front nine which left him ideally placed to attack the easier back nine.
He duly obliged with three more birdies from the 10th to move into the lead and looked set to stay there until showing he was human after all.
“All in all I think I played better than yesterday, the only loose shot I played was at the 18th,” said Els, explaining that he had gone for the green in two with a four-iron from 215 yards.
“Normally that’s a good four-iron for me, but maybe I tried to hit it too hard. I was a shot ahead and if I had made it I could have made three. I took a chance.
“But it was good the way I played not to make a bogey in 35 holes and I am still well in contention at the weekend.”
Ilonen, the lone Finn on the European PGA Tour, birdied the second and third holes as he went out in 32.
The 23-year-old former World Amateur Champion picked up three more birdies at the 12th, 13th and 17th but a bogey six at the last cost him the outright lead as he settled for a second straight 67.
Ilonen came direct to the heat of Dubai from his home an hour’s drive north of Helsinki where the temperatures were sub-zero and where he had spent much of the last three weeks snowboarding and keeping in shape indoors.
Lynn, coming off a good start to the season in Australia, joined Ilonen on 10 under thanks to two eagle threes on the back nine which gave him a 66.
First round leader Forsyth was all business until a bogey 6 at the 13th knocked him off the top of the leaderboard.
But he rebounded with a par three at 16th to grab a share of the lead with a battling 69.
Former winner Thomas Bjorn of Denmark also moved into contention firing a bogey-free, six-under-par 66 to stand one off the halfway pace.
Bjorn produced the best performance of his career over the same Majlis course in the 2001 Desert Classic when he went head-to-head with Tiger Woods over four rounds and mastered the World No 1 at the 72nd and last hole to win by two strokes.
But after playing a key role in the European Ryder Cup win in September, his form has slumped leaving him outside the top 50 in the world.
But Dubai is like a second home for the Dane and four birdies on the back nine as he opened his second round saw his confidence soaring.
Two more birdies at the second and fourth set him up for a charge at the title over the weekend.
“I want to get back to where I was in 2000 and 2001,” he said.
“I really feel like this week I have gone out and played my game and not had one eye always on what the other players are doing.
“Two rounds is not turning the corner, but it’s a big step in the right direction. I am certainly in with a shot at it now.”
Playing partner Ian Woosnam of Wales kept close tabs on Bjorn drawing level with back-to-back birdies at his last two holes for a 66 and a nine-under-par total.
Woosnam said that he was suffering from a painful back and had twinged his right knee on the third green.
But a driver borrowed from Bjorn just prior to tee-off had given him the extra length he was looking for.
Round of the day went to Englishman Ian Garbutt who birdied half the course en route to a 63.
Leading second scores (British unless stated):
134 Mikko Ilonen (Finland) 67 67, David Lynn 68 66, Ernie Els (South Africa) 66 68, Alastair Forsyth 65 69
135 Thomas Bjorn (Denmark) 69 66, Ian Woosnam 69 66
136 Ian Garbutt 73 63, Sven Struver (Germany) 67 69, Greg Owen 67 69, Nick Dougherty 67 69
137 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain) 68 69, Kevin Na (South Korea) 68 69
138 Jamie Donaldson 67 71, Thongchai Jaidee (Thailand) 70 68, Phillip Price 71 67, Ian Poulter 68 70, Tobias Dier (Germany) 69 69, Mikael Lundberg (Sweden) 69 69, Shingo Katayama (Japan) 70 68
139 Stephen Gallacher 69 70, Mark Foster 73 66, Robert-Jan Derksen (Netherlands) 67 72, Jonathan Lomas 69 70, Darren Clarke 70 69, Trevor Immelman (South Africa) 71 68, Richard Bland 72 67
140 David Park 71 69, Jamie Elson 72 68, John Bickerton 69 71, Gary Orr 71 69, Maarten Lafeber (Netherlands) 71 69, Brian Davis 68 72, Henrik Nystrom (Sweden) 70 70, Mark O’Meara (U.S.) 68 72, Rolf Muntz (Netherlands) 73 67, Roger Wessels (South Africa) 68 72—Reuters
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