Garcia takes two shot lead into third round

As a result the Spaniard will again take a two shot lead going into Saturday's third round of the British Open being played in Carnoustie.

 Garcia, who is yet to win a Mayor, played a steady round of golf on a day in which The Beast of Carnoustie came to the fore with two bogeys and two birdies and said he was very comfortable sitting at the top of the leader board.

 "I'd rather be leading than eight shots back, that's for sure because you don't feel like you have to push your game to the limit all the time. So I'm pretty happy the way I'm standing right now."

   He admitted that he felt a bit nervous after his opening round of 65 on Thursday. "Today I'm not going to lie, I was a little bit nervous at the beginning because you want to do well after a good round like I had yesterday. But then I slowly got into it and then started hitting some good shots."

   His closest rival is Korean KJ Choi, who finished the day on two under to go four under for the tournament. He could have been even closer had he not missed a simple birdie opportunity at the 16th and then bogeyed the final hole.

 Chasing Garcia and Choi are Canadian Mike Weir and Garcia's compatriot Miguel Angel Jimenez, who were both on three under at the end of round two.

 Weir played the best round of the day with a three-under 68, which included a bogey-free back nine with three birdies.

 Jiminez, followed up his two under from Thursday with a 70 on Friday to finish one under for the round.

 The 43-year-old came agonizingly close to hitting the first hole in one of the competition on the 16th with a two-iron that saw the ball stop just short of the hole. "I hit it very good on the tee, and we cannot see the hole from the tee because there's a little depression there. But I know it was going to be quite close," he said.

 Defending champion Tiger Woods, who is attempting to become the first player since Australian Peter Thompson (1954 - 1956) to win the world's oldest tournament three times in a row, had the worst possible starts as his first tee shot of the day flew out of bounds.

 He finished the hole with a double-bogey six, but then birdied the next to move back to one under   still five off the pace.

 His day did not get any better as finished the day three over to put him one over for the tournament, but more importantly seven behind the leader.

 Irish Amateur Rory McIlroy, who on Thursday was lying third after a remarkable 68, failed to repeat his performance, but his 76, which took him to two over for the tournament, still saw him make the cut and gave him the silver medal for the best amateur in the tournament - as he is the only amateur remaining.

 Amongst those who missed the cut were local favourites Colin Montgomerie and Paul Lawrie, who was a popular winner of the Open in Carnoustie in 1999. Both finished five over to miss the cut by one.

 The winner of the 136th British Open will pocket 1,11 million euros (1,52 million dollars) of the total purse of 6,24 million euros. dpa