BBC SPORT | Golf | Weather fails to stop Lowery

Second-round leaderboard

Steve Lowery made the best of windy conditions at the Castle Pines Golf Club to take the lead in The International after the second round.

The 1994 champion registered 21 points, four ahead of Craig Barlow and six better than Mark Brooks.

British Open winner Ernie Els finished his second round in fourth place with 14 points.

Playing in winds gusting up to 30 miles per hour, Lowery made seven birdies and one bogey.

The International uses a modified stableford scoring system.

Albatrosses are worth eight points, eagles five, birdies two and pars zero. One point is subtracted for a bogey and three taken away for double bogeys or worse.

Justin Leonard
Leonard was one of the big names who struggled

"It played tough today," Lowery said. "It was really windy and tough to pull the right club.

"The golf course is playing longer than it used to play - the fairways are mowed in a certain way and the ball's not rolling like it used to."

Barlow, in his fifth season on tour, has twice lost his playing privileges by finishing outside the top 125 money-winners.

He lept into second place by virtue of a six-birdie, two-bogey performance that netted him 10 points on Friday.

Sergio Garcia struggled in his second round, making only two birdies in a round of six bogeys and a double bogey.

His minus-5 total left him with 2 points and close to missing the half-way cut, but several prominent players did fail to make the cut which fell at minus-three points.

Among the casualties were two-time winner here Phil Mickelson and former Open winners David Duval and Justin Leonard.

Title-holder Tom Pernice Jr also missed the cut.

Second-round leaders (US unless stated):

+21 points Steve Lowery
+17 Craig Barlow
+15 Mark Brooks
+14 Ernie Els (Rsa)
+11 Jay Haas, Steve Pate, Billy Mayfair, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus)
+10 Rich Beem, Lee Janzen
+9 Jose Maria Olazabal (Spa), Craig Perks (Nzl), Chris Riley


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