Casey leads by four at halfway point

Paul Casey led the Madrid Open by four strokes on Friday but the 26-year-old Briton will have to finish off his second round on Saturday, following a two-hour morning frost-delay at Club de Campo.

First round leader Casey stood 13-under-par after 15 holes, currently four shots better than the target set by clubhouse leaders Paul Lawrie and Stephen Gallacher of Scotland and Australian 44-year-old Peter Fowler.

Rounds of seven-under-par 64 by 1999 British Open champion Lawrie and Gallacher, who incurred a one-shot penalty for accidentally hitting his ball on a practice putt at the 13th, and a 66 by Fowler, hauled them up the leaderboard.

Swede Marten Olander and another Australian, Nick O'Hern, the only one high on the leaderboard to complete his second round in the afternoon, are a stroke off the clubhouse lead.

Because of bad light, only O'Hern's three ball of the afternoon half of the 126-strong field completed their second rounds and the remainder will restart at 0730 GMT on Saturday.

One player from the second half of the draw who will not be restarting, however, is 45-year-old Sandy Lyle.

The double-major champion and three-times European number one ended his 25 years holding a European Tour card when he retired at the fourth hole, suffering from a bad cold and aching muscles that debilitated his swing.

Having lost his chance of rejoining the top 40 players on the career money-list who automatically keep their cards, Lyle will have to rely on past wins and invitations for the 2004 season.

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