McDowell holds lead, play suspended for darkness

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JEJU ISLAND, Korea -- Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell, twice a winner on the European Tour, finished strongly with the day's best score of 8-under-par 64 to take the clubhouse lead at the inaugural Ballantine's Championship on Friday.

McDowell's 12-under-par 132 total left the 28-year-old two strokes better than Sweden's Johan Edfors and India's Jeev Milkha Singh after the start of the second round was delayed for almost two hours due to strong winds.

Unheralded Kim Hyung-tae of Korea and Ireland's Ryder Cup star Paul McGinley are a shot further back in joint-fourth position after shooting matching 135s at the $2.9 million event sanctioned by the Asian Tour, European Tour and Korean PGA.

McDowell took advantage of the calmer weather in the afternoon due to his late start to produce a blemish-free round highlighted by an eagle on the 10th hole and six birdies.

"We got lucky with the weather this afternoon," McDowell said. "It was blowing 30 miles an hour probably when we teed off, so much so that I drove it on the first green and mysteriously, the wind just dropped. It was amazing.

"I'm very happy, obviously fortunate and nice to play well and give myself a chance this weekend."

Singh, the 2006 Asian Tour Order of Merit winner, continued his amazing comeback from a freak accident last week and a flu bug to move up one position to second after finishing his round in near darkness.

"I'm used to playing in such darkness when I'm at home but not the cold," he said. "We were running after the 17th as we wanted to tee off on the 18 th to make sure we finished our rounds. I think I had more joy of finishing and finishing the way I did with six under today. I couldn't have asked for better. Now I can enjoy my meal."

Kim survived the early gusty conditions at the Pinx Golf Club, finishing with a 66 to match McGinley, who had started the day in joint-third after play had resumed.

Kim started the day in joint-13th position and played it safe by going for pars amidst the windy conditions. That strategy paid off for the 30-year-old Korean.

"My caddie and I took very cautious approach in reading the lies and because of the strong winds, I tried to go for pars, but the winds helped me with several birdies chances, resulting in good scores," Kim said.

McGinley, starting on the 10th tee, got off to the start he had wanted with an opening birdie but he made even pars in his back-nine after that. He raced into contention after he made the turn, firing off four consecutive birdies starting at the fourth hole.

"It's a great start and good position. I'm pleased obviously," McGinley said. "My record over the years in windy conditions has always been quite decent. Although the golf course was windy, it was still yielding chances for birdies."

Fast-rising American sensation Anthony Kim, who already has six top-10 finishes on the PGA TOUR in just 17 months as a professional, produced a second-straight 68 to stay in contention for the title.

"I was trying to go more for pars than for birdies," Kim said. "But I guess the distance of my tee shots presented me with more birdie opportunities than pars."

Korea's sporting icon, K.J. Choi, was left to rue several missed birdies chances but still managed to post a 69 to improve on his previous opening score of 71.

"Nothing really went bad today," said the No. 5 player in the world. "It was just one of those days where the putts couldn't go in and I missed a lot of birdie chances. I think I'm still in a good position for tomorrow, so I'm pretty happy. If I get my putting going, it's going to improve."

The second round was suspended by darkness with 47 players remaining on the course. Play will resume at 7.45 a.m. (local time) on Saturday.

Scotland's Sandy Lye retired due to a wrist injury while Australia's Unho Park and France's Raphael Jacquelin withdrew due to sickness and personal reasons, respectively.

Leading second round scores
132 - Graeme Mcdowell (NIR) 68-64
134 - Johan Edfors (SWE) 69-65
Jeev Milkha Singh (IND) 68-66
135 - Paul Mcginley (IRL) 68-67
Kim Hyung-tae (KOR) 69-66
136 - Anthony Kim (USA) 68-68
Thomas Bjorn (DEN) 70-66
Padraig Harrington (IRL) 71-65
137 - Terry Pilkadaris (AUS) 71-66
138 - Chris Dimarco (USA) 70-68
Ariel Canete (ARG) 70-68
139 - Prayad Marksaeng (THA) 68-71
Oliver Wilson (ENG) 70-69

Selected scores
140 - Choi Kyung-yu (KOR) 71-69
Jyoti Randhawa (IND) 68-72