Bjorn & Donaldson lead into the weekend

Thomas Bjorn of Denmark is tied for the lead after the second round of the Smurfit European Open at the K Club on Friday.

Last year, Bjorn walked off after six holes and went home to fight the "demons" which had turned him into a wreck on the course. On Friday, Bjorn fired a 3-under-par 69 to move to 5-under for the tournament.

Jamie Donaldson of Wales followed a 69 with a 70 on Friday and is also at 5-under. He has one bogey in 36 holes.

Padraig Harrington of Ireland and his Ryder Cup teammates Paul McGinley, Paul Casey and Ian Poulter missed the cut.

Poulter improved 13 strokes on his opening 81, but it still was not enough, while the other three finished at 9-over.

It represented Harrington's worst 36-hole total in Europe since 1996.

After winning the Barclay's Classic on the PGA Tour last Sunday, Harrington blamed mental fatigue and hopes to have his focus back for the British Open at St. Andrews in two weeks.

"I was exhausted," Harrington said. "The fatigue got the best of me."

Bjorn is looking forward to the British Open as well, having finished second behind Tiger Woods in 2000.

U.S. Open champion Michael Campbell of New Zealand shot a 74 on Friday and is seven strokes behind the co-leaders.

"I honestly thought he had a big problem, but it didn't look like he had many problems two weeks ago (at the U.S. Open)," Bjorn said of Campbell. "I think his win was great for everybody in golfexcept for Tiger Woods. Everybody who hasn't won a major championship will see that as encouragement."

Bjorn led the 2003 British Open by three strokes with four holes to play, but played them in 4-over par and lost to Ben Curtis. He had seven birdies and four bogeys on Friday.

Campbell is trying to emulate Retief Goosen, who won the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills last year and flew back across the Atlantic to capture this tournament in his next start.

Campbell rocketed to the top of The European Tour Order of Merit with his U.S. Open victory and already has one Smurfit European Open title to his name, having won in a dramatic finish in 2002.

Goosen of South Africa shot a 74 and is two strokes behind the co-leaders.

First-round leader Trevor Immelman of South Africa stumbled to a 76 after an opening-round 66 and is three shots off the pace.

Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland is playing in his first tournament since withdrawing from the BMW Championship last month to be with his wife Heather, who is battling cancer.

He followed a 69 with a 71 and is tied with Jonathan Lomas and Graeme Storm of England, Anders Hansen of Denmark and Australian Brett Rumford for second at 4-under.

The K Club has been a happy hunting ground for Clarke, who established the course record of 60 in 1999, then became the first Irishman to win on home soil since 1982 when he captured the title two years later.

American Ryder Cup captain Tom Lehman is tied with Campbell at 2-over. Lee Westwood, who was eight back after a quadruple-bogey on the short 12th, and Colin Montgomerie squeezed into the final two rounds at 4-over.

There was a hole-in-one for the second straight day. Whereas Simon Wakefield won a car for his at the eighth on Thursday, Stephen Dodd had to settle for a bottle of champagne and a vacation weekend for his hole-in-one on Friday.

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