Montgomerie pulls two shots clear

Geoff Ogilvy and Emanuele Canonica both broke the Barseback course record today - but no-one could break the resistance of Scottish ace Colin Montgomery.

Australian big-hitter Ogilvy - who leads the driving distance table on the Tour - had eight birdies and an eagle in his 10-under par round, which gave him a halfway total of eight-under.

It beat the previous record - held by Vijay Singh and Tony Johnstone - by three strokes, and moved him into second place in the clubhouse, two shots behind Montgomerie, who repeated his first round score of 67.

The old course mark of 65 was then also beaten by another big hitter, Italian Canonica, who is second to Ogilvy in those driving statistics.

The 5ft 2in pocket powerhouse shot a 64, including successive eagles at the par five 12th and par four 13th.

Ogilvy, 22, was unaware he had broken the course record until he reached the scorer's hut at the end of his round.

"I had no idea until I went in to sign my card," he said. "That was the best I have played for a long time and my lowest ever score - it must be a good day for big hitters.

"I learnt how to hit the ball hard when I was younger because I played with guys who were four or five years older than me and already developed. I don't know what the reason is, I don't have any magic formula."

Montgomerie headed straight for the practice range despite shooting a second successive round of five-under par.

He said: "I drove the ball a bit left and missed too many fairways, so I shall spend the afternoon putting that right. I am happy to get in at 10-under, that was my target. It wasn't very nice having a 5.40am wake-up call but the reward was worth it."

Overnight leader Paul Broadhurst achieved his first priority of making the cut. He went round in level par 72 to remain on seven-under, three strokes behind Montgomerie.

The best of the afternoon starters was New Zealander Michael Long. He birdied four of his first eight holes to join the pack on seven-under.

Defending champion Jesper Parnevik picked up two early birdies to move to five-under after five, and Costantino Rocca also birdied two of his first seven holes to climb to six-under.

Rocca was five-under at the turn - still five shots behind clubhouse leader Montgomerie, while Parnevik bogeyed the 10th to drop back to four-under.

Two other men with Ryder Cup points on their minds were also hovering in the background after the halfway stage of their second rounds.

Frenchman Jean Van De Velde - whose memorable performance at the Open put him into the Ryder table's top 10 - picked up four birdies in 12 holes to move to five-under.

Also on five under after 12 was Germany's Sven Struver, who is currently just outside the Ryder Cup top 15 in 15th place.