Rose tops leaderboard into the weekend

Briton Justin Rose completed his best two rounds since leading the U.S. Masters last month to lead the Volvo PGA Championship on Friday.

Tournament favourite Ernie Els called the 23-year-old "one of the great talents" after Rose's six-under-par 66 took him two strokes ahead of the world number three, who shares second place with Sweden's Joakim Haeggman and Britons Darren Clarke and Phillip Price.

Rose, who finished at 11 under par, believes his experience at Augusta, where he eventually finished 22nd, was invaluable.

"I learned never to get ahead of yourself," Rose told a news conference. "It sounds boring but you really do have to take it one shot at a time. But it was on my mind too much away from the course as well. I was churning at night when I should have been relaxing.

"I'm staying at home this week so it's a lot easier to go back and relax and there's nothing like sleeping in your own bed.

"I didn't get much sleep before the third round at the Masters, I had a dodgy night. It's not worth thinking about tomorrow until tomorrow comes."

Rose, seeking his third European Tour title and first for two years, had his best putting display for some time, chipping in from 20 feet on the 17th for one of his seven birdies and sinking putts of 20 and 15 feet.

"This week I'm definitely putting much better," said Rose. "The signs were there at New Orleans a little while ago."

The young Englishman, playing alongside his boyhood hero Nick Faldo for the first two rounds, is also working on his swing with coach David Leadbetter.

"I want to make sure I'm 100 per cent comfortable out there," he added. "My ball strike is still below what I'd like it to be."

Els, the first-round leader, had to battle to get back into the fray, making birdies at the final two holes for a 71 to steal a further march on his rankings rival, world number two Vijay Singh.

Els has a chance of replacing Singh in the world rankings with the right results this week, and the Fijiian struggled to a 73 including five bogeys. "The 17th and 18th were my saving grace," said the South African. "It was a bit of a battle. I just tried to hang in there."

Els was full of praise for Rose.

"He's got one hell of a career going already," Els said. "I think he's one of the great talents that will compete in majors."

Haeggman is in a rich vein of form and this year's Qatar Masters champion, playing on a medical exemption after breaking his ankle in an ice-hockey spill, is continuing his bid to make the Ryder Cup team instead of acting as assistant to captain Bernhard Langer.

Colin Montgomerie and Faldo, both former winner sof the tournament who missed the cut in Germany last week, made it to the weekend.

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