Irish lurking as Els purrs

Ernie Els is in the driving seat the BMW International Open. Picture courtesy Getty ImagesA mid-round double bogey did little to upset the Rolls Royce that is Ernie Els as he purred his way into a one-stroke lead at the BMW International Open.

The 27-time European Tour winner finished at 12 under par having carded a 69 on day two at Golfclub München Eichenried, and he will start the third round one clear of England’s Matthew Baldwin and Frenchman Alexander Levy, who both shot rounds in the 60s.

Els will not be at Carton House for next week’s Irish Open but there were positive signs from Peter Lawrie, David Higgins and Shane Lowry as they survived the halfway cut with varying degress of success.

Lawrie is tied for 12th place, just four strokes behind the reigning Open champion on eight under par, after he recovered from a double bogey six at the first hole with six birdies and a solitary bogey for a three under 69.

Lowry, the Carton House touring professional, also had a good day with a bogey at the 18th the only blot on a three under 69 that left him tied for 30th on six under with Higgins, who also bogeyed the par-five last for a 69.

An early double bogey seven killed off Gareth Maybin as he missed the cut by a stroke despite making five birdies in a two under 70.

Meanwhile, Els continued his relentless progress at the top of the leaderboard bouncing back from a six at the 440-yard seventh with birdies at the ninth, 11th, 13th, and 15th to re-establish the lead he had held overnight.

A dropped shot at the driveable 16th saw him momentarily drop back into a tie for the lead, but a splendid drive and fairway wood into the heart of the par five 18th green yielded a two putt birdie and ensured Els would hold the narrowest of leads after 36 holes.

“I’m quite fortunate to be where I am,” admitted Els. “I didn’t play as well today as I did yesterday, obviously. I fought hard for a score today and I’m satisfied with that.”

Scores after round 2:

132 E Els (RSA) 63 69,

133 A Levy (Fra) 65 68, M Baldwin (Eng) 64 69,

134 D Willett (Eng) 69 65, B Wiesberger (Aut) 66 68,

135 A Noren (Swe) 64 71, M Kaymer (Ger) 64 71, T Fleetwood (Eng) 66 69, M Jiménez (Esp) 68 67, M Siem (Ger) 67 68,

136 G Stal (Fra) 68 68, D Fichardt (RSA) 70 66, J Campillo (Esp) 66 70, R Derksen (Ned) 64 72, P Uihlein (USA) 70 66, P Lawrie (Irl) 67 69, M Nixon (Eng) 65 71,

137 M Manassero (Ita) 68 69, S Kapur (Ind) 69 68, B Stone (RSA) 66 71, R Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 67 70, H Stenson (Swe) 68 69, D Johnson (USA) 66 71, R Fisher (Eng) 68 69, T Björn (Den) 68 69, J Luiten (Ned) 69 68, V Dubuisson (Fra) 68 69, C Macaulay (Sco) 69 68, M Tullo (Chi) 68 69,

138 D Higgins (Irl) 67 71, S Benson (Eng) 71 67, B Rumford (Aus) 70 68, B Ritthammer (Ger) 68 70, M Wiegele (Aut) 69 69, T Van Der Walt (RSA) 70 68, P Fowler (Aus) 67 71, S Lowry (Irl) 69 69, S Jamieson (Sco) 68 70, O Floren (Swe) 68 70, O Fisher (Eng) 69 69, J Morrison (Eng) 68 70,

139 J Parry (Eng) 67 72, F Aguilar (Chi) 70 69, R Wattel (Fra) 67 72, P Waring (Eng) 66 73, M Madsen (Den) 74 65, J Lagergren (Swe) 66 73,

140 M Warren (Sco) 72 68, J Van Zyl (RSA) 75 65, D Drysdale (Sco) 68 72, M Carlsson (Swe) 69 71, S Garcia (Esp) 71 69, L Gagli (Ita) 69 71, J Walters (RSA) 67 73, R McEvoy (Eng) 68 72, A Kaleka (Fra) 72 68, R Jacquelin (Fra) 73 67, E Goya (Arg) 66 74, T Jaidee (Tha) 66 74, M Korhonen (Fin) 71 69, H Wen-Yi (Chn) 71 69,

141 D Van Der Walt (RSA) 70 71, P Widegren (Swe) 71 70, A Snobeck (Fra) 70 71, M Kieffer (Ger) 68 73, P Casey (Eng) 71 70, G Bourdy (Fra) 68 73, R Rock (Eng) 73 68, G Orr (Sco) 73 68, A Hartø (Den) 68 73, C Paisley (Eng) 69 72, M Crespi (Ita) 69 72, K Broberg (Swe) 70 71, C Doak (Sco) 72 69, M Lafeber (Ned) 70 71, D Horsey (Eng) 68 73, R Gonzalez (Arg) 72 69, S Kjeldsen (Den) 69 72

CUT

142 R Bland (Eng) 71 71, G Havret (Fra) 67 75, T Levet (Fra) 67 75, E Grillo (Arg) 71 71, S Hansen (Den) 74 68, L Jensen (Den) 70 72, C Günther (Ger) 68 74, G Maybin (Nir) 72 70, C Montgomerie (Sco) 71 71, D Gaunt (Aus) 70 72, A Cejka (Ger) 71 71, T Aiken (RSA) 70 72, T Olesen (Den) 70 72,

143 B Åkesson (Swe) 69 74, T Lewis (Eng) 65 78, M Southgate (Eng) 72 71, A Tadini (Ita) 72 71, A Cañizares (Esp) 71 72, J Kingston (RSA) 68 75, M Foster (Eng) 73 70, A Hansen (Den) 70 73, R Santos (Por) 70 73, A Quiros (Esp) 71 72,

144 D Howell (Eng) 74 70, G Lockerbie (Eng) 72 72, E De La Riva (Esp) 70 74, A Sullivan (Eng) 66 78, S Wakefield (Eng) 74 70, P Price (Wal) 69 75, R Finch (Eng) 72 72, P Erofejeff (Fin) 70 74, M Delpodio (Ita) 68 76, P Larrazábal (Esp) 72 72,

145 R Green (Aus) 71 74, I Garrido (Esp) 72 73, G Storm (Eng) 74 71, H Otto (RSA) 71 74, F Zanotti (Par) 74 71, P Whiteford (Sco) 72 73, S Dyson (Eng) 76 69, M Brier (Aut) 72 73,

146 C Lee (Sco) 72 74, D Küpper (Ger) 72 74, J Hansen (Den) 70 76, C Del Moral (Esp) 73 73, K Horne (RSA) 75 71, J Lara (Esp) 73 73,

147 A Dodt (Aus) 74 73, J Singh (Ind) 73 74, M Lampert (Ger) 70 77, A Marshall (Eng) 78 69, M Lundberg (Swe) 70 77, S Little (Eng) 74 73, N Fasth (Swe) 69 78,

148 S Henry (Sco) 75 73, D Brooks (Eng) 74 74, J Olazábal (Esp) 75 73, J Edfors (Swe) 74 74, C Lloyd (Eng) 70 78,

149 L Slattery (Eng) 72 77, M Röhrig (am) (Ger) 72 77,

150 F Fritsch (Ger) 75 75, J Elson (Eng) 75 75, J Kruger (RSA) 75 75, J Sjöholm (Swe) 75 75,

151 R Coles (Eng) 75 76, M Jonzon (Swe) 73 78, C Cévaër (Fra) 75 76, S Arnold (Aus) 74 77,

152 D Lynn (Eng) 73 79, G Boyd (Eng) 77 75, E Kofstad (Nor) 76 76, D Foos (am) (Ger) 78 74,

153 R Davies (Wal) 79 74,

156 S Heisele (Ger) 74 82,

157 N Meitinger (Ger) 80 77,

169 C Schwierz (Ger) 85 84,

** J Quesne (Fra) 74 WD