Romero extends lead to three

After shooting 64, Thomas Bjorn joined Lee Westwood and Darren Clarke on the halfway leaderboard at the Canon European Masters in Switzerland. Furthemore Bjorn believes Colin Montgomerie's seven-year reign as European number one is about to come to an end.

"I think it's time for a change and I think it's going to be hard for Monty to make it eight in a row now," said Bjorn, winner of last week's BMW International in Munich.

It is still Eduardo Romero out in front and the 46-year-old Argentinian now has a three-stroke advantage after he added a 68 to his opening 64 for a 10-under-par total of 132.

However defending champion Westwood moved up from ninth place to joint second by firing a 66, Clarke joined him by scoring 67 and Open runner-up Bjorn is only one shot further back.

After the promise of a first-day 69, however, Nick Faldo fell 10 adrift after what he described as a "terrible" 73. With £1.26million already placed in his bank account this season Westwood leads the Order of Merit, but only by £39,000 from Clarke and £53,000 from Ernie Els, nothing in the current age of million-dollar cheques.

Bjorn is £315,000 behind and fifth-placed Montgomerie a further £72,000 back, but the Scot is an absentee from Crans-sur-Sierre after missing his first halfway cut for two years last week.

"He's going to be a long way behind after this and I think Lee is the man to beat," said Bjorn, who had a spectacular birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie run from the 13th to haul himself back into the running for the £153,000 first prize.

"He's playing solid golf, he does not seem bothered about anything else and he's going to make a lot of money at the end of the season because he always does.

"Darren and I will be trying to catch and overtake him, but in fairness I think Lee deserves to be called the European number one."

For his charge through the field Bjorn, runner-up in the Open in July and third in the US PGA last month (both behind Tiger Woods, of course), hit a five iron to four feet, a bunker shot to six feet, a three iron to two feet and then rolled in an outrageous 55-foot putt.

"The three iron for the eagle turned the round into something special," he said. In trying for the birdie which would have given Bjorn his first-ever 29 for nine holes he almost went in the pond at the last, but the ball stayed out by a couple of feet and he saved par.

Despite what Bjorn said about his character, Westwood was bothered by something else as he cut short a Press conference after his round.

He had just finished with a bogey six and when the conversation turned to the number of short putts he has been missing lately the world number six upped and left.

At the 326-yard sixth hole he had solved the problem by holing a 96-yard pitch for an eagle two. Clarke was in a much more relaxed frame of mind, after nearly blowing his top the previous day for missing a whole sequence of chances on the controversial greens.

Asked if his wife, back at home waiting for their second child to arrive next month, had given him a shopping list for the week the Ulsterman literally took a leaf out of Mark James' book when he replied: "Yes, but I quickly binned it."

Although he felt for the second day running he could have got more out of the round, Clarke kept a bogey off his card.

Romero was caught by Westwood at one point but had three birdies in his last four holes, the last of them after playing down the wrong fairway.

Hooking his drive down the ninth left the 1994 winner (that was his last European Tour success) no option but to play his second shot towards the first tee.

From there he pitched over the trees separating the two holes and holed from 14 feet for his seventh birdie of the day. But for four bogeys he would have been almost out of sight of the rest.

Australian Jarrod Moseley and South African Hennie Otto are joint second with Westwood and Clarke after rounds of 67 and 69 respectively.

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