05 March 2005	Saturday	23 Muharram 1426

DUBAI, March 4: Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez upstaged tournament favourite Ernie Els to take a two-shot lead in the Dubai Desert Classic second round on Friday.

Jimenez, the European Tour's form player last year with five victories, fired a sparkling seven-under-par 65 to overhaul overnight leader Els at the Emirates Golf Club. The cigar-puffing Ryder Cup player reeled off eight birdies and a solitary bogey at the par-four ninth, his final hole, to complete a hot but relatively calm day at 12-under 132.

South African Els, bidding this week for an unprecedented third Desert Classic crown, had to settle for second place after adding a flawless 68 to his first-round 66.

Jimenez, who opened with a 67, surged to the top of the leader board with a run of four birdies in the first six holes. He then picked up a further four shots, including a chip-in for birdie at the par-three seventh, before stumbling at the last where he failed to get up and down from green side rough.

Els, one ahead of the field overnight, reeled off four birdies to keep himself in the hunt for his first title of the year. The world number three, who set the course record with a 61 on his way to victory in 1994, was frustrated, though, with the accuracy of some his approach shots.

Leading the chasing pack at nine under after matching Jimenez for the week's best round was Briton Stephen Dodd, winner of the European Tour's season-opening China Open last November.

A further two strokes behind in a share of fourth were 1996 winner Colin Montgomerie (67), 2001 champion Thomas Bjorn (68) and South Africa's James Kingston (68). Seven-times European number one Montgomerie, who is determined to book a place at next month's U.S. Masters with a high finish in Dubai, was precise about his goal over the weekend.

Montgomerie needs to climb another 13 spots in the rankings by the end of this month to book his place at Augusta. It was not a good day, however, for former British Open champions Greg Norman, Mark O'Meara and Paul Lawrie.

Australian Norman was forced to withdraw before the start of the second round, having suffered a back injury trying to play a shot from the rough during his opening 74 on Thursday.

American O'Meara, who won last year's Desert Classic by a shot from Irishman Paul McGinley, and Britain's Lawrie both missed the cut which fell at level-par 144. O'Meara exited the tournament after carding a 72 and Lawrie after a 73.

SECOND ROUND SCORES

132 - Miguel Angel Jimenez 67-65

134 - Ernie Els 66-68

135 - Stephen Dodd) 70-65

137 - Thomas Bjorn 69-68, Colin Montgomerie 70-67, James Kingston 69-68

138 - Peter Fowler 69-69, Bradley Dredge 70-68, Jamie Donaldson 70-68, Toru Taniguchi 70-68, Lee Westwood 70-68, David Howell 67-71, Niclas Fasth 72-66, Paul Sheehan 70-68, Gregory Havret 70-68, Phillip Archer 72-66, Jarrod Lyle 68-70

139 - Sam Osborne 68-71, Nick Dougherty 69-70, Charl Schwartzel 69-70, Robert Karlsson 69-70, Ian Garbutt 72-67

140 - Soren Hansen 71-69, Jyoti Randhawa 72-68, Maarten Lafeber 70-70, Soren Kjeldsen 70-70, Darren Fichardt 70-70, Joakim Haeggman 70-70, Andrew Marshall 69-71, Damien McGrane 71-69, Marten Olander 70-70

141 - Peter Hedblom 69-72, Simon Dyson 71-70, Anthony Wall 70-71, Alastair Forsyth 70-71, Paul McGinley 70-71, Zhang Lian-Wei 74-67, Stephen Scahill 70-71, Francesco Molinari 71-70, Ben Curtis 70-71, Richard Green 71-70, Anders Hansen 70-71, Sandy Lyle 71-70, Gary Emerson 72-69, Steve Webster 72-69.

BOGEY-FREE BARR LEADS

PHUKET: Australian Scott Barr kept off the bogey trail for a second straight day to lead by one stroke from Jeev Milkha Singh of India at the halfway stage of the Thai Airways International Thailand Open on Friday.

The Singapore-based Barr produced another masterful performance, shooting a four-under-par 68 at Blue Canyon Country Club to lead the $500,000 Asian Tour event on 11-under-par 133.

Singh, the joint first-round leader with Barr with an opening 65, stayed in touch with a second-round 69 while the in-form Scott Strange of Australia was a further stroke back following a 67 where he recovered from two early bogeys.

Japanese veteran Gohei Sato and promising Indian Shiv Kapur shared fourth place on 138 after carding rounds of 72 and 68 respectively in what is Thailand's 39th national Open.

The 32-year-old Barr, a former teaching pro looking for his maiden Asian Tour triumph, had numerous birdie opportunities after hitting 17 greens in regulation but burnt the edges of most holes.

The Aussie drained a 20-footer on the 13th for birdie and converted another 25-foot putt on the 17th. Two more birdies at the fifth and eighth holes left him well pleased with his day's work. -Agencies