Westwood earns share of lead

Paarl - Briton Lee Westwood fired a four-under-par 68 for a share of the lead after the second round of the South African Open on Friday.

Westwood is on 10-under-par 134 along with Ireland's Damien McGrane and South Africa's Charl Schwartzel, who completed their second rounds at Pearl Valley Golf Estates in 64 and 65 strokes respectively.

South African Thomas Aiken, who tied for fourth place at the Dunhill Championship on Sunday, fired a flawless eight-under 64 to move to nine-under alongside the British duo of David Horsey (65) and Gareth Maybin (69).

Westwood collected five birdies against a lone drop at the par-4 17th.

"I just played really solid again," Westwood told reporters. "When I missed the green, the short game was really good. I felt I rolled the ball better on the greens today; got a few more running into the holes.

"I've not won this year and it would be nice to end with a victory. It would be nice to get some momentum and finish the year solidly."

McGrane attributed his run of eight birdies to playing partner Schwartzel, who he called a 'world-class player'.

"We had a good three-ball and Charl had four birdies to start with. I had a par and four birdies to follow him. It was tough to get the honour on the front nine but his momentum brought me along."

Schwartzel got off to a strong start with four successive birdies and added two more to turn in six-under.

"I got off to a really good start. I hit some fantastic shots today. Except for the tee shot at the last where I still managed to escape with par, a very good round," he said.