Schwartzel takes Abu Dhabi lead

R2 LEADERBOARD -9 C Schwartzel (SA) -8 R Gonzalez (Arg), S Hansen (Den) -7 T Jaidee (Tha) Selected others: -6 C DiMarco (US), D Lynn (Eng), MA Jimenez (Sp), V Singh (Fij) -5 S Garcia (Sp) -4 C Montgomerie (Sco) -3 T Bjorn (Den), I Poulter (Eng)

Charl Schwartzel carded a second-round 66 to take the halfway lead of the inaugural Abu Dhabi Golf Championship.

The South African fired five birdies and an eagle to finish the second round on nine under, one stroke ahead of Soren Hansen and Ricardo Gonzalez.

Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee is two off the pace while Fiji's Vijay Singh and England's David Lynn are in the group on six under.

Colin Montgomerie had a second-round 68 and is five strokes behind Schwartzel.

Schwartzel has yet to win a tournament outside South Africa, but insisted he was not alarmed by the way big names like Singh, Montgomerie and America's Chris DiMarco, who lies joint fifth after a six-under-par second round of 67, were breathing down his neck.

Being five behind beats being six behind - I'll go out on Saturday with the intention of making up ground Colin Montgomerie

"I'm going to just keep doing what I'm doing," he said.

"As long as I stay calm, and I'm very calm out there, relaxed, I think my game is there."

Montgomerie was pleased with his second round score and has set himself a target of match the course record of 66 during the next two rounds.

"I'm very comfortable, very confident on the golf course right now," said the Scot.

"I'm a big believer in the fact that if you believe, you're halfway there, and I am right now.

"This is a good start but I have to get myself in the top 10 on Saturday. I need a very good score, a 66 minimum, to have a chance of winning here."

"I don't like being five behind, but five behind beats six behind and I'll go out on Saturday with the intention of making up ground."