Westwood and Singh lead at Belfry

SECOND ROUND LEADERBOARD: (GB & Ire unless stated) -6 L Westwood, J Singh (Ind) after 12 holes-5 A Canizares (Spa), T Jaidee (Tha), M Warren, A Noren (Swe) after 14 holes-4 Paul Lawrie, S Walker

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Friday's best shots at the British Masters

Lee Westwood remains on course to defend his crown at the British Masters after he added a second-round 70 to his 68 on Thursday to sit on six under par.

India's Jeev Milkha Singh joined him at the top of the leaderboard with an ace on the 7th but has completed only 12 holes because of a delayed start.

Spain's Alejandro Canizares, Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee and Scot Marc Warren are all in the clubhouse on five under.

Many players were still to complete their rounds because of morning fog.

Singh's hole-in-one on the was the third overall, which was a European Tour record for one day, after Phillip Archer also hit an eagle at the par-three 7th and Spaniard Alvaro Quiros aced the 12th.

Scotland's Paul Lawrie and England's Sam Walker are in the clubhouse on four under, and while Colin Montgomerie improved his first round score of 81 by 12 strokes, he still looks likely to miss the cut on six over.

606: DEBATE Give your thoughts on the second round

On a day when all players wore pink clothing to raise awareness of breast cancer, Darren Clarke was also struggling to turn around his first-round 80, while fellow Northern Irishman Graeme McDowell (three over) said he was shattered after last week's efforts in Louisville.

"I don't know how to deal with this 'comedown' feeling. Lee has learnt how to deal with things better than I have," said McDowell.

"Physically I'm probably not all there, but mentally definitely - if last week was 11 out of 10 then I'm five out of 10 this week."

Westwood was hoping the weekend would give him an added kick.

"I would hope to play better tomorrow," he said. "I made a big effort and my scrambling was good. I've worked hard on my short game and when I'm feeling a bit lethargic it can get me out of a bit of trouble."

Play is due to begin at 0745 BST on Saturday.