Hansen takes lead over Westwood

Hansen said he felt his recent form deserved a win

SECOND ROUND LEADERBOARD:
-11 S Hansen (Den)
-10 L Westwood (Eng)
-7 B Langer (Ger), S Khan (Eng), S Dyson (Eng)
Selected others:
-6 J Daly (US), C Montgomerie (Sco)

A four-under-par second round of 68 was enough to give Soren Hansen a one-shot lead over Lee Westwood after round two of the Mercedes Benz Championship.

Westwood looked on course to stay in the lead on the front nine but four bogeys on the inward half saw him end the day 10 under, one behind Hansen.

Bernhard Langer, Simon Dyson and Simon Khan shared third spot, four strokes off the pace on seven under.

John Daly and Colin Montgomerie were in a group of seven sharing sixth place.

Hansen said he felt he was finally getting some reward for consistent improvement in his game.

I missed too many fairways but I didn't get much out of my round Lee Westwood

"The way I've been playing for the last three months I've got to be rewarded," said the Dane.

"My putting is so much better and my short game is that little bit sharper, they're ingredients for that big package.

"Lee Westwood in form, though, is always a dangerous man."

Westwood admitted his opening round of 61 had proved a hard act to follow.

"Your expectations are high but you don't generally follow up a 61 with anything better," said the Englishman.

"I missed too many fairways but I didn't get much out of my round, the wind got up and the greens firmed up.

"I also had a bad night, I was all stuffed up (with a cold) and my balance felt a bit upset."