Colin Montgomerie had problems with his back

In a closely-bunched field, O'Malley on nine under par has a one-shot advantage over Montgomerie, Sweden's Carl Petersson and Germany's Alexander Cejka, with Westwood in a group one shot further back on seven under.

Defending champion Montgomerie made his move with three birdies in four holes from the fifth.

But he aggravated an on-going back injury playing the ninth hole, which he bogeyed, and took a dose of painkillers at the 10th.

The Scotsman dropped further shots at the 13th and 14th before two closing birdies salvaged a second consecutive 67.

'Big difference'

"I struggled coming in and I do not think I hit a fairway," said Montgomerie.

"Instead of being five or even four under, I am eight under, so that's a big, big difference to start Saturday."

Westwood's opening 67 was his best for some time and his revival looked set to continue when he made four birdies in a row from the fourth to reach the turn in 32 and join Montgomerie on eight under.

A wild drive at the 10th cost him a double-bogey seven but he too steadied the ship with birdie threes at the 14th and 16th for a 68.

Good driving

"I am delighted with the position I am in. I have a chance going into the weekend which is something I have not been able to say for a while," said Westwood.

Australian star O'Malley attributed his improvement in form to good driving.

"I hit every fairway and only missed three yesterday. That is the key around here," he said.

"The fairways have firmed up a bit so the emphasis on carrying the ball a long way isn't so great which suits me," he said.

"It is playing almost like a course in Australia with firm greens, firm fairways and a bit of wind. The rough is not too severe."

Des Smyth is the leading Irish player

The Irish challenge is headed by veteran Des Smyth.

The 49-year-old will go to the qualifying school for the US Seniors Tour in the autumn but he showed his short game was still top class as he carded a second-round of 68 for a seven-under-par total.

"I am really happy to be on the board. I struggled quite a bit and missed a number of greens out there but I scrambled well.

"I pitched beautifully and putted beautifully all day long," he said.

Padraig Harrington carded a 68 to improve to three-under but for the second year in a row Darren Clarke needed a birdie at the final hole to make the cut on one under par.

Last year he closed with rounds of 65 and 64 to finish joint second and, with just eight shots covering the entire field going into round three, anything is possible over the weekend.

Second round leadrboard

9 under - Peter O'Malley (Aus)
8 under - Carl Pettersson (Swe)
Alex Cejka (Ger)
Colin Montgomerie (Sco)
7 under - Mark Pilkington (Wal)
Des Smyth (Irl)
Richard S Johnson (Swe)
Joakim Haeggman (Swe)
Lee Westwood (Eng)
6 under - Fred Funk (USA)
Adam Scott (Aus)
5 under - Mark McNulty (Zim)
Patrik Sjoland (Swe)
Ian Woosnam (Wal)
Eduardo Romero (Arg)
Gary Emerson (Eng)
Andrew Marshall (Eng)
Eamonn Darcy (Irl)
Raymond Russell (Sco)
Roger Chapman (Eng)