Westwood takes halfway lead as Woods struggles

While Rory McIlroy, Padraig Harrington and Justin Rose all looked like missing the cut and Tiger Woods again produced a mixed bag – he did, though, make it through to the weekend – Westwood added a sparkling seven under par 65 to his opening 67 and held the early clubhouse lead on day two in The Players Championship, golf's richest event, at Sawgrass.

On 12 under par, the European No 1 – third, third and second in the last three majors – was only two short of the tournament's 36-hole record set by Greg Norman in 1994.

He was, however, just one stroke in front of Japan's Ryujni Imada (66) and also Francesco Molinari, whose decision to play in Florida rather than at his home Italian Open was paying handsome dividends.

Molinari matched Westwood's round as he continued his attempt to go one better than his brother Edoardo's runner-up finish at the Arnold Palmer Invitational two months ago.

Rose, on the other hand, went in the water for a closing bogey that was likely to cost him his place on level par, Harrington got a ball stuck up a tree four holes from home and McIlroy, also finishing on one over, failed tobe inspired by last week's maiden US Tour triumph.

As for Woods, who blew out by eight shots with a horrid 79 the previous Friday, he had five birdies, but also two bogeys and a double bogey.

That translated into a one under 71 and a three under halfway aggregate. With half the field still on the course he was in a tie for 39th. After taking six on the par five 16th on the first day Westwood eagled the same hole on his return.

It came as the result of a brilliant 209-yard approach to four feet and Westwood, having already birdied the 12th with a 10-foot putt, followed with a tee shot to six feet on the near island green at the 17th.

He did bogey the last, but came straight back with a hat-trick of birdies at the start of the front nine and a putt of almost 20 feet brought him another on the seventh. "I played nicely all day," he said. "I'm hitting the ball well, which you have to round this course."

Sweden's Fredrik Andersson Hed leads the Italian Open, a shot ahead of Spain's Miguel Angel Jimenez.