Golf | Lee Westwood leads European Tour finale in Dubai by 2 strokes

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Lee Westwood of England shot a 3-under-par 69 Friday to take a two-stroke lead after the second round of the Dubai World Championship, strengthening his chance of winning the European money title.

Westwood has a chance to pick up two big prizes Sunday. If he wins the last tournament of the European Tour season, he will receive $1.25 million in prize money — plus a $1.5 million bonus for winning the Race to Dubai money prize.

Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy, the leader of the money race going into the tournament, also shot a 69. The 20-year-old was among six players tied for second place at 7 under.

The others are Ireland's Padraig Harrington (69), England's Ross McGowan (66), Australia's Robert Allenby (72), South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen (66) and Colombia's Camilo Villegas (69).

Sergio Garcia (67) of Spain was among four players at 6 under.

Westwood sounded confident about his chances to win the prizes.

"I am as much in control of my game as I have been for a long time," he said after a round that began with two birdies on the Earth Course. "I feel very calm and happy with myself. All parts of my game feel solid and I enjoy times like this. I know that if I play as good as I can play, I can win this tournament."

Westwood said he took the advice of his caddie, Bill Foster, and stopped looking at the leaderboard during his round.

"I have always been a leaderboard watcher," he said. "But this week we decided to try something different."

McIlroy reached 9 under with an eagle at the par-5 seventh hole and covered the front nine in 31 shots. But he slipped back by missing two putts from inside 3 feet to save par on the 14th and 15th greens.

Ochoa leads

RICHMOND, Texas — Sophie Gustafson of Sweden moved two shots behind leader Lorena Ochoa of Mexico at the LPGA Tour Championship before second-round play was suspended because of bad weather.

Rain swamped the Houstonian Golf and Country Club before dawn and the start of the second round was pushed back six hours. Ochoa didn't play Friday after shooting a 6-under 66 early Thursday. She is to start her second round today.

Gustafson shot a 70 in the first round and played 11 holes and moved to 4 under in the second round, the lowest total among the golfers who were active Friday.

Wendy Ward was at 3 under. Ward lives near Edwall, outside Spokane.

Note

• Peter Senior won the Champions Tour National Qualifying Tournament in Scottsdale, Ariz., shooting a 5-under 66 for a three-stroke victory over Joe Ozaki, Steve Haskins and Ronnie Black.

Senior, an Australian, had a 17-under 267 total on TPC Scottsdale's Champions Course. Senior, the three who tied for second and Jim Roy each earned full exemptions for the 2010 season on the 50-and-older Tour. Haskins is the son of the late Don Haskins, Hall of Fame basketball coach.