Brian Davis takes narrow advantage

Britain's Brian Davis stayed ahead in the British Masters and Dane Thomas Bjorn moved into contention with the best second round as high winds played havoc with the scoring on Friday.

Davis's one-under-par 71, including a triple-bogey eight, kept him in front, while Bjorn fired a 68 to finish one shot back on three-under, level with compatriot Soren Hansen (71) and Briton David Howell (72).

"I think I screwed my right head on this morning," Bjorn told reporters. "Last night I saw the forecast for windy and cold weather and I said to myself I must go and battle it out.

"It was never going to be the prettiest of golf in these conditions. It was a case of eliminating mistakes and I did that."

Howell's confidence soared following his 11th place finish on his Masters debut but Bjorn's final round in the year's first major could have shattered his.

Bjorn, however, insisted he has taken it in his stride in line with his new policy of shrugging off bad rounds.

His Augusta finale was not as bad as his collapse to lose the British Open in 2003, when he let in Ben Curtis with a flurry of late dropped shots, but Bjorn plummeted from third place going into the Masters final round to finish only tied 25th with a closing 81.

"Augusta National can do that to you," Bjorn said. "I started chancing my arm a little bit and all of a sudden I was seven over after 11.

"In hindsight perhaps I should have played a bit more defensively and tried for third place but settling for third is not my way.

Bjorn insisted the demons that caused him to walk off the course during last year's European Open would not be returning.

"We all push ourselves too hard and I'm guilty at times of doing that but I'm now determined to go out and enjoy my golf," he said.

The seven-over-par cut was the highest of the year and matched the mark in the first event of the season, the China Open.

To further highlight the difficult conditions, only six players from the original field of 156 are under par and no-one has had a card without a dropped shot on it in two rounds.

Briton Steve Webster, last week's maiden winner in the Italian Open, shot 71 and New Zealander Michael Campbell a 70 as they moved to fifth place on one under.

Two tour veterans refused to bow to the wind.

Europe's Ryder Cup captain Ian Woosnam, 47, carded a 71 to lie five strokes off the pace, while his close friend and former Ryder Cup captain Sam Torrance produced a sterling performance to make the cut.

Torrance's driver head flew off on the seventh tee but he then picked up four shots in six holes while his driver was being refitted with a new shaft.

Australian Brad Kennedy had a hole in one at the eighth, his 17th hole, but still missed the cut by eight shots.

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