Graeme McDowell extended his lead in the WGC-HSBC Champions after a flawless five under par 67 in the second round at Sheshan International Golf Club.

The Northern Irishman notched five birdies to reach ten under par overall, three ahead of Englishman Ian Poulter (67), who won the tournament in 2012, and four in front of American Bubba Watson (67) and Japan’s Hiroshi Iwata (65).

Poulter and Watson both enjoyed strong finishes, the latter birdieing the last five holes and the former picking up shots on four of the closing five.

McDowell has enjoyed a fine record in World Golf Championship events during the past two seasons, finishing in the top ten in six of his last seven appearances, although he is yet to win a WGC title.

The WGC-HSBC Champions is the second event in The Race to Dubai’s Final Series, a lucrative four-tournament swing to culminate the 2014 season.

Quotes

Graeme McDowell
“The putter was fairly hot today. I didn’t play as well as I did yesterday; I missed a lot more fairways, which is a big key on this golf course. You must find fairways to have a chance out there. I got lucky a couple of times and I made some good saves. The greens are fantastic here at Sheshan and I managed to make some putts. It wasn’t my best ball-striking round but I hung in there and I’m right where I want to be going into the weekend.

“This event has such a good feel to it. HSBC do a good job, you always get good support, there’s a great atmosphere and the golf course is so well presented. The WGCs are a special tier of events and this has always been one that I’ve had my eye on. This is a world-class field and they are bunching up behind me. I’ve just got to keep the pedal down and position myself for Sunday to have a sniff on the back nine.”

Ian Poulter
“That’s probably the best I’ve played all year, which is very exciting. I only missed a couple of greens.  It was a little frustrating for the first 13 holes, missing chances, but I made four birdies in the last five holes so the chances started to go in at the end and I’m very happy. I switched to Titleist equipment two weeks ago and it’s fantastic. Obviously shooting five under today, I’m pretty happy. I think the equipment is working very well.”

Bubba Watson
“I hit some good shots but couldn’t make the putts and I hit some bad shots and made the putts.  But it was good to finish that strongly. It’s kind of the same position I was in last year – I was hanging around right there going into the weekend. I’m looking forward to it, I’m looking forward to the challenge. Hopefully I can play a little better this time on the weekend.”

Round 2 scores:
134 G McDowell  (Nir) 67 67,
137 I Poulter (Eng) 70 67,
138 B Watson (USA) 71 67, H Iwata (Jpn) 73 65,
139 K Na (USA) 71 68, T Clark (RSA) 69 70, J Blixt  (Swe) 71 68, R Fowler  (USA) 69 70,
140 T Olesen (Den) 72 68, L Oosthuizen  (RSA) 70 70,
141 O Wilson (Eng) 71 70, M Kaymer (Ger) 69 72, J Holmes (USA) 70 71, H Stenson (Swe) 70 71,
142 J Dufner (USA) 72 70, H Mahan  (USA) 74 68, A Scott  (Aus) 70 72, A Levy (Fra) 74 68, J Walker  (USA) 73 69, D Van Der Walt (RSA) 70 72,
143 C Kirk (USA) 69 74, M Leishman (Aus) 72 71, J Rose (Eng) 72 71, B Snedeker  (USA) 69 74, H Matsuyama  (Jpn) 74 69, L Westwood (Eng) 70 73,
144 J Spieth  (USA) 70 74, A Lahiri (Ind) 74 70, E Els (RSA) 74 70, T Fleetwood  (Eng) 69 75, S Gallacher (Sco) 72 72, K Hyung-Sung (Kor) 70 74, W Ashun (Chn) 74 70, B Haas  (USA) 70 74, P Reed (USA) 71 73, M Siem  (Ger) 72 72,
145 B Todd (USA) 71 74, G Coetzee (RSA) 72 73, J Van Zyl (RSA) 70 75, R Moore  (USA) 74 71, K Bradley (USA) 72 73,
146 R Henley (USA) 71 75, H Otto (RSA) 74 72, S Garcia  (Esp) 74 72, J Senden (Aus) 73 73, L Donald  (Eng) 74 72, R Palmer (USA) 74 72, D Fichardt (RSA) 74 72,
147 T Jaidee (Tha) 71 76, M Warren (Sco) 75 72, M Every  (USA) 75 72, P Larrazábal (Esp) 75 72, T Bjørn (Den) 72 75, L Hao-Tong (Chn) 75 72, S Lowry  (Irl) 78 69,
148 G Woodland (USA) 73 75, J Luiten (Ned) 77 71, J Donaldson (Wal) 71 77,
149 K Streelman (USA) 77 72, L Wen-Chong (Chn) 75 74, H Mu (Chn) 78 71, D Ze-Cheng (Chn) 76 73, Z Lianwei (Chn) 73 76,
150 S Stallings (USA) 74 76, C Schwartzel  (RSA) 74 76, F Aguilar (Chi) 76 74,
151 D Lipsky (USA) 78 73, M Hendry (Nzl) 76 75, M Jones (Aus) 75 76, M Ilonen  (Fin) 75 76,
152 J Knutzon (USA) 78 74,
153 V Dubuisson  (Fra) 76 77, M Jiménez (Esp) 78 75,
155 Y Takeya (Jpn) 77 78, A Lascuna (Phi) 76 79,
157 B Horschel (USA) 80 77,
164 J Jeong (Kor) 85 79,
176 B Ninyette (Aus) 86 90,
** K Stadler (USA) RT  0, G Delaet (Can) RT  0,