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Rumford leads, Els misses cut

Icheon - Australia's Brett Rumford shot a superb nine-under-par second round to lead the Ballantine's Championship in South Korea on Friday as big names Ernie Els and Ian Poulter missed the cut.

The 33-year-old from Perth barely put a foot wrong as he carded nine birdies on his way to a 63 to lead the $3.2 million tournament at the Blackstone Golf Club near Seoul on 10 under par.

World number one Lee Westwood shot a four-under-par 68 to end the day six shots off the lead, but insisted he could still be in the hunt come Sunday evening.

"Four under gives me a chance -- six behind one and three behind second. I have a funny feeling a lot can happen on this golf course," he said.

His playing partner and Ryder Cup teammate Miguel Angel Jimenez fired seven birdies to tie for second place on seven under with Denmark's Soren Kjeldsen.

First round leader Damien McGrane of Ireland shot par to lie tied fourth on six under, while four birdies on the back nine put rising star Dustin Johnson in a strong position going into the weekend.

The big American lies joint seventh on five under par, five shots back from Rumford.

But it was a disappointing afternoon for three-time Major-winner Els, who failed to make up for a poor first round and picked up three bogeys to finish two over par, a shot off the cut.

Poulter holed an eagle on the par five 18th, but it was too little too late for the Ryder Cup hero after three bogeys and a double bogey, and he too returned to the clubhouse two over par.

Rumford, runner-up at last year's Ballantine's, said he was happy to be playing well after a poor recent run.

"I didn't come to this week with that great form, but this is a funny game," he said. "The last two weeks I've not been playing well, I've been grinding everything out."

With thunderstorms predicted for Saturday, Rumford said he was pleased to have taken the initiative in balmy spring weather.

"The more shots up your sleeve the better going into the weekend -- if the forecast is bad it's going to play very, very tricky," he said.

Some players have struggled with the multi-level greens at the up-and-down Blackstone course but there were no worries for Rumford, who sank a number of 15-footers.

Westwood, who needs to finish in the top five to stop Germany's Martin Kaymer replacing him at the top of the rankings, admitted struggling to hole out.

"I played nicely, the same as yesterday, hit the ball nicely but didn't really make any putts. The greens are tough to figure out," he said.

The big name South Korean stars gave the home fans little to cheer about - Y.E. Yang, Asia's first Major winner, and teenage sensation Noh Seung-yul both missed the cut after poor rounds.

It is the first time the Blackstone has hosted the Ballantine's tournament, which is co-sanctioned by the European and Asian Tours.

Leading scores on Friday after the second round of the $3.2 million Ballantine's Championship at the Blackstone Golf Course near Seoul (par 72):

134 - Brett Rumford (AUS) 71-63

137 - Miguel Angel Jimenez (ESP) 70-67, Soren Kjeldsen (DEN) 71-66

138 - James Morrison (ENG) 69-69, Rhys Davies (WAL) 70-68, Damien McGrane (IRL) 66-72

139 - Alexander Noren (SWE) 70-69, Richard Finch (ENG) 67-72, Dustin Johnson (USA) 70-69, Park Sang-hyun (KOR) 67-72

140 - Liang Wen-chong (CHN) 74-66, Rikard Karlberg (SWE) 71-69, Lee Westwood (ENG) 72-68, Kim Kyung-tae (KOR) 69-71, Shiv Kapur (IND) 72-68, Kim Dae-hyun (KOR) 71-69, Richie Ramsay (SCO) 68-72

141 - Choi Jin-ho (KOR) 73-68, Paul McGinley (IRL) 71-70, Mark Tullo (CHI) 71-70, Jamie Donaldson (WAL) 72-69, Christian Nilsson (SWE) 74-67, Felipe Aguilar (CHI) 67-74, Mo Joong-kyung (KOR) 71-70, Jung Ji-ho (KOR) 71-70, Hong Soon-sang (KOR) 69-72, Yang Ji-ho (KOR) 71-70, Joel Sjoholm (SWE) 74-67

Selected others:


146 - Ernie Els (RSA) 73-73, Ian Poulter (ENG) 74-72

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