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Order of Merit boost for Rose

02/11/2007

Justin Rose has edged ahead of his European Order of Merit rival Padraig Harrington by finishing the second round of the Volvo Masters four under par.

The Englishman hit an unmatched round of 68 to move four shots ahead of Harrington (71), who sits one place above him on the Order of Merit list.

Both men need at least top three finishes at Valderrama to overtake Ernie Els, currently at the Singapore Masters where no Order of Merit points are in the offing.

"I was really, really happy with that round of golf. Any time you have the lowest score of the day it's an achievement," said Rose after reaching the halfway stage in the Volvo Masters.

"But we are nowhere near the finishing line and tomorrow it will be the same old boring stuff - one shot at a time. This course lends itself to boring play, playing percentages."

But Open champion Harrington said it was now "game on" for the tournament and the Order of Merit.

"It's exactly the situation I was hoping for at the start of the week and hopefully myself and Justin can carry it on tomorrow and sort it out sometime late Sunday afternoon," he explained.

Elsewhere in Spain Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell was unable to repeat his first-round heroics with a score of 75, putting him on one over par alongside home favourite Miguel Angel Jimenez, Denmark's Soren Kjeldsen and India's Jyoti Randhawa.