KEY POINTS:
Another solid round from Michael Campbell left him well positioned at the halfway point of the Mercedes-Benz golf championship in Germany yesterday.
Campbell completed a tidy second round two-under-par 70 yesterday, which included three birdies, to go with his first-round 71 to leave him tied for seventh.
Fellow New Zealander Mark Brown followed up a 76 with a disappointing 78 in a second round which included five bogeys and a double bogey and left him near the tail of the field. With no cut, he gets to play the final two rounds.
Ryder Cup pair Robert Karlsson and Soren Hansen hit timely form, a week before Europe face the United States at Valhalla.
Karlsson took the halfway lead on a day of heavy rain while Hansen, defending the title, reeled off 10 birdies in a spectacular display, just two off the European Tour record for birdies in a round.
Karlsson, a stroke off the lead overnight, moved one shot ahead of Jean-Francois Lucquin with a three-under par 69 for the day and an eight-under 136 for the two rounds.
Lucquin's 71, after his European Masters victory last week, kept him a shot better than Peter Hanson (69). Joint overnight leader Richard Finch (73) is a stroke further back.
Karlsson, who has recorded two second places, three thirds, a fourth place in the US Open and eighth in the US Masters, looks poised to win his eighth European Tour title.
His chance has come after a three-week break.
"Always when you have a little bit of a break, you don't really know when you come back how your game will be. But there is sharpness in my short-game and my putting," Karlsson said.
"There will be more and more pressure but I've got a good feeling for this week - and for next week."
Hansen, who will make his Ryder Cup debut, is tied for fifth place on four-under with Germany's Marcel Siem.
The Dane began by picking up six birdies in the first seven holes before the only real low point of his round when he triple-bogeyed the short 11th by four-putting.
Hansen was unfazed by the aberration and again hit the birdie trail, picking up four more in the next five holes.
Even with two bogeys on the card too, Hansen showed he is in the sort of form that could earn him starts in next Friday and Saturday's foursomes and fourballs.
Germany's Martin Kaymer, eight shots off the lead, has been invited by Faldo to Valhalla on Monday. The 23-year-old from Dusseldorf finished 11th on the Ryder Cup table, one place from qualifying, and would step in if any of the 10 qualifiers couldn't play.
- Agencies
