Bjorn Two Up in Rain-Delayed Singapore Open


After not even getting a chance to tee it up Friday, Denmark's Thomas Bjorn finally got to play his second round in the Singapore Open, the European Tour's $6 million event taking place on the rain-soaked Serapong Course at Sentosa Golf Club.

But the delay has been worth it for the 41-year-old, who carded a 4-under 67 to go along with his opening 66 to reach 9-under 9-under 133, two strokes ahead of Chris Wood (65) and George Coetzee (63).

The third round was started after the completion of the second round Saturday, but no player finished the third 18 holes. Officials are still holding out hope to get in 72 holes; that's possible if further storms don't come through Singapore.

Bjorn, a 13-time winner on European Tour, carded four birdies and the rest pars. Despite his success so far, he has respect for the course. "This course can very quickly bite you, especially if you don't drive the ball well," Bjorn said. "The numbers can run up on this golf course, so you got to stay with what you're doing," he said. "I've got two good rounds in the bank, but there's ways to go."

No. 1-ranked Rory McIlroy has posted two 1-under 70s. The 23-year-old Northern Irishman is attempting to duplicate the feat first accomplished last year by Luke Donald in winning the money-list titles on both the PGA and European tours. He has already iced the PGA title with more than $8 million in winnings, and is in great shape in Europe.

Yet McIlroy would still like to end his great season with a bang and another victory - which would be his fifth of 2012. "I'll need to go out and try to make a few birdies in the morning and get myself within a couple shots of the lead, or a few shots of the lead, going into the fourth round - if it ever happens," he said. "The more golf we play, the better chance I have of winning."

One of the other marquee players in the field, four-time major champion Phil Mickelson, has shot rounds of 73 and 70.

For all the scores, visit http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2012/tournamentid=2012088/leaderboard/index.html.