Westwood leads in Sweden

Lee Westwood has struggled for form this season

Lee Westwood assumed his customary position at the top of the leaderboard after the second round of the Volvo Scandinavian Masters in Malmo.

Westwood carded a second successive 67 to finish on 10 under par at Barseback, one stroke clear of England's Ian Poulter and Colin Montgomerie.

Darren Clarke was a shot further back on eight under alongside a trio of Swedish players, Open runner-up Niclas Fasth, Peter Hedblom and Dennis Edlund.

A bogey at the third took Westwood out in one-over-par 36 but he stormed back in six-under-par 31, finishing with four birdies in a row.

"It's great to be back on top of the leaderboard, that's where you want to be," said Westwood, who had missed the cut in four of his last six events.

"Coming down the stretch I felt like I was back and had not lost the habit of being in contention and knowing how to handle the pressure.

Darren Clarke is two shots off the lead

"It was nice to play better as the pressure was building up at the end. I've always said that's why I play competitive golf - to be in the cauldron," added the Englishman.

Westwood admitted at the start of the week that his focus and attitude has suffered after taking a long break over the winter around the birth of his first child.

"I needed time to enjoy the things I had accomplished," he added.

"The season is so long these days that I've never had time to enjoy the things away from the course that you have accomplished on the course," said Westwood.

Montgomerie was satisfied with a second round 69 while Poulter carded the round of the day with a 65 that included a bogey at the last.

"That was a shame because it would have been a great round but I hit a terrible tee shot into the trees and a par would have been a bonus," said Poulter, who won the Moroccan Open earlier this year and the Italian Open last October.

I think I can still catch Retief

  Darren Clarke on his Order of Merit hopes

Poulter currently lies 20th in the Ryder Cup table but victory on Sunday would lift him to ninth in the table and the 25-year-old will play in USPGA championship in a fortnight's time.

Clarke, meanwhile, still has his sights set on catching US Open champion Retief Goosen at the top of the Order of Merit despite trailing the South African by almost half a million pounds.

"I think I can still catch Retief. I'm hitting the ball the way I want to at the moment, now I need to knock in a few more putts," said Clarke.

Ian Woosnam squeezed into the weekend play right on the cut mark of level-par after a disappointing second round 74.

Woosnam is playing in his first event since the Open Championship where a two-shot penalty during the final round cost him a probable Ryder Cup place.

The Welshman currently lies 15th in the Ryder Cup table and he looks likely to lose further ground this week.

134 L Westwood 67 67
135 I Poulter 70 65, C Montgomerie 66 69
136 D Clarke 66 70, P Hedblom (Swe) 66 70, N Fasth (Swe) 67 69, D Edlund 69 67
137 W Bennett 67 70
138 J Haeggman (Swe) 71 67, R Chapman 69 69
139 P Fulke (Swe) 68 71, M Campbell (Nzl) 69 70, T Levet (Fra) 67 72, J Rystrom (Swe) 67 72, S Scahill (Nzl) 72 67, A Wall 63 76, P Lonard (Aus) 71 68, W Riley (Aus) 71 68, S Hansen (Den) 66 73, S Webster 71 68
140 C Cevaer (Fra) 71 69, T Johnstone (Zim) 71 69, C Rocca (Ita) 68 72, P Lawrie 69 71, F Henge (Swe) 71 69, D Carter 70 70, S Richardson 74 66, G Havret (Fra) 67 73, S Gallacher 70 70, T Bjorn (Den) 68 72
141 A Scott (Aus) 69 72, M McNulty (Zim) 70 71, M Jonzon (Swe) 71 70, A Forsbrand (Swe) 72 69, S Kjeldsen (Den) 69 72, P O'Malley (Aus) 70 71
142 O Edmond (Fra) 68 74, C Pettersson (Swe) 74 68, N Colsaerts (Bel) 71 71, M Norgren (Swe) 73 69, P Mitchell 72 70, J Sandelin (Swe) 68 74, B Davis 71 71, B Dredge 68 74, D Terblanche (Rsa) 70 72, P Baker 72 70
143 G Brand Jnr 72 71, M Farry (Fra) 71 72, M Roe 72 71, H Otto (Rsa) 69 74, R Green (Aus) 69 74, H Bjornstad (Nor) 73 70, C Rodiles (Spa) 72 71, G Evans 72 71, D Howell 73 70, A Hansen (Den) 71 72, J Spence 69 74, A Cejka (Ger) 73 70, J Parnevik (Swe) 71 72
144 (x) N Lemke (Swe) 72 72, P-U Johansson (Swe) 72 72, T Munoz (Spa) 70 74, P Broadhurst 71 73, R Gonzalez (Arg) 71 73, R Russell 70 74, F Jacobson (Swe) 71 73, M Mackenzie 70 74, O Karlsson (Swe) 71 73, V Phillips 70 74, S Tinning (Den) 73 71, G Owen 73 71, H Stenson (Swe) 70 74, G Turner (Nzl) 72 72, A Oldcorn 69 75, I Woosnam 70 74
145 M Mouland 72 73, S Torrance 67 78, J Rose 72 73, P Price 75 70, J Lomas 74 71, D Park 70 75, R Coles 70 75, P Nyman (Swe) 71 74, L Parsons (Aus) 72 73, P Streeter 70 75, B Lane 72 73
146 A Baddeley (Aus) 73 73, M Lundberg (Swe) 73 73, D Borrego (Spa) 75 71, P Haugsrud (Nor) 73 73, M Gronberg (Swe) 72 74, N Vanhootegem (Bel) 73 73, J Bickerton 72 74, P Casey 72 74
147 R Karlsson (Swe) 74 73, N Henning (Rsa) 76 71, S Dyson 72 75, T Gogele (Ger) 72 75, T Immelman (Rsa) 78 69, S Luna (Spa) 74 73
148 J Senden (Aus) 74 74, (x) N Bruzelius (Swe) 75 73, J Berendt (Arg) 75 73, P Quirici (Swi) 75 73, F Cea (Spa) 71 77, (x) P Nilsson (Swe) 71 77, E Simsek (Ger) 71 77, O Nordberg (Swe) 74 74, J Rivero (Spa) 71 77, P Eales 75 73
149 (x) W Schauman (Swe) 74 75, (x) A Hultman (Swe) 74 75, G Rojas (Arg) 73 76, M Ilonen (Fin) 75 74, G Ogilvy (Aus) 72 77
150 G Storm 77 73, M Santi (Ita) 77 73, N Cheetham 73 77, E Boult (Nzl) 72 78
151 M Bernardini (Ita) 76 75, P Magnebrant (Swe) 77 74, R Johnson (Swe) 76 75, D Lee 75 76, (x) L Johansson (Swe) 76 75, S Dodd 75 76, M Brier (Aut) 74 77
152 D Higgins 77 75, D Fichardt (Rsa) 79 73, S Struver (Ger) 75 77
153 P Sjoland (Swe) 74 79
156 M Lanner (Swe) 79 77
160 H Nystrom (Swe) 80 80
Withdrawn: R Muntz (Ned)