Raphael Jacquelin extends lead to three shots

Raphael Jacquelin of France shot a 3-under 69 to open up a three-point lead Friday over South Korea's Lee Sung heading into the third round of the Asian Open.

Jacquelin, who led after the second round of last week's China Open before slipping out of contention, collected five birdies against two bogeys to finish at nine-under 135.

"I am going to play exactly the same," Jacquelin said. "I think the course is a little more fair this week and if you miss the fairway you still have a shot to the green and that will make a big difference for the weekend."

Ernie Els, the tournament's 2005 winner, was seven off the pace at 142 after shooting a second consecutive round of 71. The South African, still looking for his first win of the year, had a pair of birdies on the first two holes before his putting went cold, dropping a shot on the back nine.

"I am playing OK, just not scoring. A little frustrating," Els said.

Lee shot three birdies and one bogey to sit at 6-under 138 at the Tomson Shanghai Pudong Golf Club.

"I got up and down four times which kept me going," said Lee, who was born deaf and communicates through his father by lip-reading. "I'm swinging it good but I felt average today because of the weather change -- yesterday was cold, today was hot."

Spaniard Miguel-Angel Jimenez, the 2004 Asian Open winner, launched a methodical assault on the leaders with a blemish-free round of 69, again illustrating the reason behind his nickname, "The Mechanic."

"I feel very comfortable in this position. I played very well today, very solid from tee to green and that's the base of my game these last two days," said Jimenez, who had his 2004 caddy, Yang Lihong, carrying his bag again after his regular caddy missed the tournament due to a visa problem.

Joakim Backstrom of Sweden (69), Denmark's Soren Kjeldsen (72), Scott Hend of Australia (70), and Scotland's Colin Montgomerie (70) joined Jimenez at five-under-par 139.

Montgomerie, who missed out on a berth in the playoff at last year's China Open by a stroke, gave his chances a boost with an eagle three on the par-five 16th hole.

Crowd favorite John Daly missed the cut after shooting an up and down round of 76 to finish at 11-over-par, while defending champion Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano remained at 1-over 145 after shooting a round of even-par 72.

The $2.3 million Open is co-sanctioned by the European and Asian Tours.