Kjeldsen leads by two strokes at Volvo Masters

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SOTOGRANDE, Spain (AP) -- Soren Kjeldsen shot an even-par 71 Saturday to hold a two-shot lead over three players after the completed second round of the Volvo Masters.

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Soren Kjeldsen shot even-par 71 in the second round, which was finished Saturday due to rain.

Lee Westwood, who is trying to overcome Robert Karlsson in the Order of Merit race, was part of the trio in second place, after making five birdies on the back nine for a 4-under 68 on a soggy Valderrama course. Play was halted midway through the second round on Friday after heavy rain.

"I felt that if I could make a few birdies then I would be in contention. It's just that kind of golf course," Westwood said.

The 86th-ranked Kjeldsen has a 6-under 136 total to lead Westwood, Spain's Sergio Garcia (70) and England's Anthony Wall (69) with third-round play to resume later Saturday.

Karlsson was 10 strokes off the lead after a second consecutive 73, and Padraig Harrington -- his closest chaser in the Order of Merit standings -- had a 71 to sit at 5 over.

"You just have to keep plugging away and grinding and be patient and good things happen if you play well," said Westwood, who won the European money title eight years ago. "My golf has completely narrowed down to one thing, and that's to win this tournament."

Karlsson leads Harrington by nearly 300,000 euros ($380,000) in the money list, and Westwood by more than ?466,000 ($594,000). Both Harrington and Westwood could clinch the Order of Merit with a victory here, as long as Karlsson doesn't finish second. A second-place finish could also be enough for Harrington if Karlsson doesn't improve from his current 22nd place.

Karlsson, who can become the first Swede to lift the Harry Vardon trophy, had another poor putting performance on a day when greens were soft and players were able to attack the flag with no wind. Karlsson needed 33 putts, and missed at least half a dozen birdie chances from within 10 feet, including 7-footers at both No. 17 and 18.

"Overall I played well, the situation for me is OK," Karlsson said.

Harrington continued to be troubled by some erratic approach play that left him with long putts to save par over his last five holes. The British Open and PGA Championship champion sank an 18-footer at the par-5 17th and then a six-footer at the last.

"I scrambled well, very well. But it's very disappointing with everyone birdieing out there (today) after what we had yesterday," Harrington said. "I did enough to give myself a chance of coming back into the tournament."

Miguel Angel Jimenez, a longshot for the European Tour's money title, was 16 shots behind after his 80 capped a disastrous round that had also started in the wind and rain on Friday.

Kjeldsen made the turn at 1 over but birdied the par-4 10th and the par-3 15th to pull away from Garcia, who landed in the pond on the 17th for his only bogey of the round.

"I hit quite a lot of bad shots and got away with it," Kjeldsen said. "At some stage on this course, you're going to battle a little bit, and I did that today and I think I did quite well."