Buckle & Michaels lead at halfway

World number seven Adam Scott stayed firmly on track for a title charge at the US$2 million Singapore Open on Friday and warned his rivals that his best was yet to come.

The 25-year-old Australian battled to a two-under-par 69 on a sweltering day at the challenging Sentosa Golf Club's Serapong course, shooting three birdies against a lone bogey, to trail halfway leaders Edward Michaels of the United States and Australian rookie Andrew Buckle by three shots.

Buckle, playing in his first season on the Asian Tour, sizzled with an outstanding 65, despite a bogey at his last hole, the ninth. Michaels, last year's Philippine Open champion, cruised into contention with a solid 67 and leads with Buckle on six-under-par 136.

Overnight co-leader Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand, last year's Asian Tour number one, stumbled to a 73 to lie four off the pace in the mega-rich championship that players have billed as "Asia's Major".

New Zealand 's Mahal Pearce is two strokes back in third place following a 70 while England 's Ryder Cup star Lee Westwood struggled to the finish line, dropping three bogeys on his back nine for a 71 and tied 14th position, six off the pace.

But all eyes will certainly be on Scott, who is hunting for his third title of the year. "It was pretty steady stuff, I would like to have made a couple of putts to give me a bit of momentum but I have played pretty solid. I'm in a good position," said Scott.

Starting from the back nine, the talented Aussie turned in one-under with short birdies on the 10th and 13th holes, sandwiched by a bogey on 12th, which is the longest par four on the course at 490 yards. He later drained a 20-footer on the fifth for his third birdie.

Scott warned that he has a low round in his game for a much anticipated weekend assault. "I don't think anyone is running away with it, so I'm in good shape. I have not given myself too much work to do at the weekend. There is a good round of golf out there at some point, something like six-under," he said.

The 23-year-old Buckle has produced three top-10s this season including a runner-up finish behind Korean star Choi Kyung-ju in the SK Telecom Open in Korea in May. And he showed his massive potential once again to upstage his more illustrious compatriot with a seven-birdie round for the lowest score so far at the demanding Serapong course.

Buckle stayed out of the thick rough, missing only two fairways with a strong driving display. "I will try to be patient at the weekend. It's still a long way to go," he said.

Michaels credited his wife-cum-caddie Missy for keeping him on track for what could be a lucrative US$315,000 payout in Asia 's richest national Open. " If you told me that I would be six under through two rounds earlier in the week, I would have asked 'where do I sign up'," said Michaels.

"Missy has been great. She just kinds of prods me along and tells me to stay in the present and not think too much of what I'm doing in the overall scheme of the tournament and hit it one shot at a time. We have fun out there most of the time, it's always easier when you're playing well," he said.

Overnight co-leader Thongchai endured a roller-coaster day, dropping four bogeys against two birdies, as he rued a cold putter. The former Thai paratrooper said: "My putting was not that good and the pins were tough. I still have a chance - I am only four shots back," said the two-time Asian number one

Australian left-hander Nick O'Hern enjoyed a strong finish where he birdied three of his last four holes for a 68 and a two-day total of 139 to lie alongside Scott, American Anthony Kang (72) and Korea 's Ted Oh (70) in joint fourth place.

"It was a nice way to finish the day," said world number 30 O'Hern, who rolled in putts of inside 20 feet over the closing stretch.

"I had an up and down day for most of the time and I didn't putt that well. I actually made a few errors and saved par pretty well. Towards the end, I started to strike the ball nicely again. Three birdies out of the last four is pretty good."

The halfway cut was set at six-over-par 148, with 76 players moving into the last two rounds. Current Asian Tour Order of Merit leader Thaworn Wiratchant of Thailand was amongst those who scraped in with one stroke to spare following a second round 75.

The highest placed Singapore player was M. Murugiah, who is tied 32nd on 146 after battling to a 72.

136 - Edward Michaels ( USA ) 69-67, Andrew Buckle (AUS) 71-65

138 - Mahal Pearce (NZL) 68-70

139 - Anthony Kang ( USA ) 67-72, Adam Scott (AUS) 70-69, Ted Oh (KOR) 69-70, Nick O'Hern (AUS) 71-68

140 - Thongchai Jaidee (THA) 67-73

141 - Terry Pilkadaris (AUS) 71-70, Arjun Singh (IND) 71-70, Lin Wen-tang (TPE) 73-68, Marcus Both (AUS) 69-72, Chapchai Nirat (THA) 67-74

142 - Sung Mao-Chang (TPE) 72-70, Lee Westwood (ENG) 71-71, Scott Strange (AUS) 73-69, Chawalit Plaphol (THA) 71-71

143 - Jarrod Lyle (AUS) 70-73, Frankie Minoza (PHI) 70-73, Jyoti Randhawa (IND) 74-69, Liang Wen-chong (CHN) 70-73, Lin Keng-chi (TPE) 72-71

144 - Lu Wen-Teh (TPE) 71-73, Craig Parry (AUS) 70-74, Guido Van Der Valk (NDL) 74-70, Prom Meesawat (THA) 73-71

145 - Somkiat Srisanga (THA) 72-73, Boonchu Ruangkit (THA) 71-74, Yeh Chang-ting (TPE) 77-68, Edward Loar (USA) 68-77, Dean Alaban (AUS) 71-74

146 - M. Murugiah (SIN) 74-72, Rick Gibson (CAN) 76-70, Zhang Lian-wei (CHN) 74-72, Chris Williams (RSA) 74-72, Danny Zarate (PHI) 75-71, Chris Travers (AUS) 72-74, Kao Bo-song (TPE) 74-72, Danny Chia (MAS) 69-77, Jason Knutzon (USA) 73-73, Matt Keegan (AUS) 73-73, John Wither (SCO) 70-76

147 - Unho Park (AUS) 75-72, Thaworn Wiratchant (THA) 72-75, Mardan Mamat (SIN) 73-74, Alistair Presnell (AUS) 75-72, Lu Wei-chih (TPE) 74-73, Craig Warren (AUS) 70-77, Lu Wei-lan (TPE) 77-70, Gerry Norquist (USA) 73-74, Mike Capone (USA) 72-75, Richard Lee (NZL) 77-70, Adam Groom (AUS) 71-76, Jason Dawes (AUS) 75-72, Corey Harris (USA) 73-74, Digvijay Singh (IND) 75-72, Ronnachai Jamnong (THA) 72-75

148 - Thammanoon Srirot (THA) 71-77, Angelo Que (PHI) 69-79, Bryan Saltus (USA) 78-70, Clay Devers (USA) 75-73, Ron Won (USA) 74-74, Mike Cunning (USA) 73-75, Paul Marantz (AUS) 74-74, Andrew Pitts (USA) 72-76, Uttam Singh Mundy (IND) 75-73, Lin Chie-hsiang (TPE) 73-75, Keith Horne (RSA) 71-77, Robin Hodgetts (AUS) 76-72, Harmeet Kahlon (IND) 75-73, Eddie Lee (NZL) 76-72, Rahil Gangjee (IND) 74-74, David Bransdon (AUS) 74-74, Pat Giles (USA) 74-74, Ashok Kumar (IND) 72-76, Martin Doyle (AUS) 75-73

Cut at 148 (6 over par)

149 - Mo Joong-kyung (KOR) 72-77, Gary Rusnak (USA) 75-74, Kurt Barnes (AUS) 76-73, Jochen Lupprian (GER) 74-75, Jeev Milkha Singh (IND) 74-75, Matthew Cort (ENG) 71-78, Larry Austin (AUS) 75-74

150 - M. Sasidaran (MAS) 74-76, Gilberto Morales (VEN) 76-74, Adam Le Vesconte (AUS) 78-72, Prayad Marksaeng (THA) 72-78, Chen Tze-chung (TPE) 80-70, Gary Simpson (AUS) 77-73, Shannon Jones (AUS) 81-69, Simon Yates (SCO) 73-77

151 - Adam Blyth (AUS) 69-82, Eiji Mizoguchi (JPN) 73-78, Satoshi Tomiyama (JPN) 76-75, Suk Jong-ryul (KOR) 77-74, Soe Kyaw Naing (MYN) 76-75, Gaurav Ghei (IND) 77-74, Choi Gwang-soo (KOR) 73-78, Chang Tse-peng (TPE) 76-75, Aung Win (MYN) 78-73, Goh Kun-yang [Am] (SIN) 75-76

152 - Wang Ter-chang (TPE) 74-78, Amandeep Johl (IND) 75-77, Isao Aoki (JPN) 78-74, Atthapon Prathummanee (THA) 81-71, Jin Yong-gab (KOR) 77-75, Darren Griff (CAN) 77-75, Olle Nordberg (SWE) 73-79, Lam Chih Bing (SIN) 77-75, Li Chao (CHN) 77-75, Shiv Kapur (IND) 81-71

153 - Richard Moir (AUS) 77-76, Surawin Suwannodom (THA) 76-77, Ross Bain (SCO) 74-79, Quincy Quek [Am] (SIN) 78-75, Chris Gill (ENG) 78-75, Chen Chung-cheng (TPE) 77-76, Chung Joon (KOR) 78-75

154 - Rashid Ismail (MAS) 77-77, P. Gunasegaran (MAS) 79-75, Zaw Moe (MYN) 72-82, Scott Barr (AUS) 76-78, Chris Rodgers (ENG) 76-78

155 - Hendrik Buhrmann (RSA) 83-72, Greg Hanrahan (USA) 73-82

156 - Wisut Artjanawat (THA) 82-74, Firoz Ali (IND) 80-76, Felix Casas (PHI) 77-79

157 - Airil Rizman Zahari (MAS) 82-75

158 - Bill Fung (SIN) 79-79, Pornsakon Tipsanit (THA) 81-77, Jonathan Leong [Am] (SIN) 82-76, Craig Kamps (RSA) 78-80, Pablo Del Olmo (MEX) 78-80

159 - Hsieh Min-nan (TPE) 77-82, Anura Rohana (SRI) 75-84, Jerome Delariarte (PHI) 82-77

160 - Chen Yuan-chi (TPE) 80-80, Alejandro Quiroz (MEX) 83-77

161 - Patrick Tang [Am] (SIN) 83-78, Choo Tze-huang [Am] (SIN) 76-85, Koh Deng-shan [Am] (SIN) 78-83

162 - Dino Kwek (SIN) 79-83

164 - Gerald Rosales (PHI) 82-82

168 - Poh Eng Wah (SIN) 83-85

Retired - R. Nachimuthu (MAS) 73-RTD, Jamnian Chitprasong (THA) 79-RTD, Kyi Hla Han (MYN) 79-RTD

Withdrew - Adam Fraser (AUS) 82-WD, Lee Sung-man (KOR) 87-WD

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