McGinley admits he is struggling to find form

R2 LEADERBOARD:
GB & Ire unless stated
-6 E Els (SA)
-4 A Scott (Aus), S Katayama (Jpn)
Selected others:
Level L Westwood
+11 P McGinley

Ryder Cup stalwart Paul McGinley missed the cut for the second week in succession as Ernie Els captured the halfway lead at the Singapore Open.

McGinley, who holed the winning putt at The Belfry in 2002, edged into the team despite missing the 36-hole cut at last week's BMW International in Munich.

He finished 11 over in Singapore, 17 shots behind Els, who leads by two.

"My putting is not good and I'm driving badly," McGinley lamented. Wildcard Lee Westwood fared better, finishing level.

McGinley admitted he was concerned by his form with the Ryder Cup now only two weeks away.

"It is a big worry," said the 39-year-old, whose best finish on the European Tour this season was a share of 18th place at the Deutsche Bank event in July.

"I don't want to be off form going into the match. I will have a week off next week, go back to Ireland and work on it. I'm just not hitting the shots I should be."

Westwood, by contrast showed no signs of being affected by his wildcard seelction ahead of Thomas Bjorn, recovering from a bad first day to post a round of 69 and trail Els by six shots going into the weekend.

Els revelled in the early morning conditions at the Serapong Course, particularly pleased with the improvement in his putting.

"It was much cooler this morning," he said. "It was very humid but we did not have the heat. The greens are very nice, I hit a nice putt on the fifth and a long one at the 14th which broke the ice, because I did not make one yesterday."

The languid South African appeared to be in trouble at the fifth when his second shot finished in deep rough, but his impressive putt disappeared for an eagle.

Australian Adam Scott added a 69 to his opening 70, dropping a shot at his final hole after driving into the water, to join the group in second at four under.

"I had a few putts that went by the edge but I am pretty happy, though I will need to pick up the pace to give Ernie a run," he said.

Overnight leader Juvic Pagunsan dropped back to one over after a wayward 76.