Golf Events / Editor / 23 June 2007 /

Swedes Niclas Fasth and Peter Hanson both enjoyed fine weeks at the US Open and they have carried on where they left off at the BMW International Open to head the leaderboard at the halfway stage.

Fasth, who came fourth at Oakmont last week, shot a flawless second round 65 in Germany that included seven birdies to take the lead on 12 under-par, two strokes ahead of his compatriot Hanson who finished a highly creditable joint 30th in America last week.

Former Ryder Cup star Thomas Levet - making a welcome return to form - Argentine Andres Romero and Portugal's Jose-Filipe Lima are firmly in touch three shots back on nine under, one clear of Nick Dougherty and two ahead of Christian Cevaer and veteran David Frost.

But with no fewer than 13 players in the group on six-under-par, including pre-tournament favourite Ernie Els, Paul Casey, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Anders Hansen and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano and defending champion Henrik Stenson one stroke further adrift, there looks to be plenty of excitement in store before the 2007 champion is crowned.

Fasth, who began the week trading at 25, is the new favourite and is now as low as 2.9 to claim his first title of the year after winning twice in 2006.

Hanson, who was unlucky to have to settle for second place in Abu Dhabi after being overtaken in the closing stages by Casey, can be backed at 11.5 to win with the steady Romero trading at 14.5 - only marginally shorter odds than Els and Dougherty.

Casey looks good value at 17.5 to taste success for the second time in 2007 with Levet available to back at 20 to win, ahead of Jimenez (30), Stenson (34) and Lima (36).

There aren't many players in the world more confident than Fasth at the moment and he has shown exactly what he is capable of at Munich's Eichenried course this week.

The 35-year-old has not dropped a shot during the first two days on his way to the lead and needed just 25 putts - including 11 single putts - during his second round where he got up and down five times out of five on the occasions he missed the green.

Fasth has been in excellent form all year and is trading at 1.51 to place in the first five and 1.09 to finish in the top ten.

Hanson has not won a tournament for two years but has been swinging the club well all season and has managed two other top-10 finishes as well as coming runner-up in Abu Dhabi.

After the tightness of Oakmont last week, the 29-year-old is enjoying the wider fairways in Munich and may well be vying for the lead on Sunday afternoon, where he is 2.66 to place in the first five and 1.33 to finish in the top 10.
Levet has been struggling with an ear infection for several months now and admits he is still not fully over the problem.

But the popular Frenchman enjoys playing the Eichenried course; he has finished second and third there in previous tournaments and appears well priced at 4 to come in the top five this week.

Romero and Lima have both been steadily improving in recent weeks and it would be no surprise to see them in contention for honours while there will be few more popular winners than Dougherty if he were to prevail this weekend.

The Englishman, 2.56 to place in the first five, has twice blown winning opportunities this season but is playing better than ever after finishing joint-seventh at the US Open.

He also has the extra motivation of knowing victory in Germany would seal his spot in next month's Open Championship and this could spur him on to glory.

But there are plenty of fancied players lying further down the field who could surge through to challenge on Sunday and it may pay to look further down the leader board for a possible winner.

Frost is only playing at the invitation of the sponsors this week and is clearly determined to put up a good performance for their sake. He looks to represent some of the best value available at odds of 80 to win and 6.6 to place in the first five.

Cevaer, 10 points longer than Frost, has been playing well all year without winning yet while Peter Gustafsson finished joint-eighth here last year and, just six strokes off the lead, appears over-priced at 240 to win and 15.5 to finish in the top five.

Hansen and Fernandez-Castano, trading at around 50 to triumph, will have their followers while the leaders will all be aware of the presence of Els, Casey and Jimenez in the group on six under.

Els has struggled with his putter over the last few weeks but sunk a confidence-boosting birdie putt at his final hole on Friday and that could put him in the mood to mount a charge over the weekend.

With his immense power, Casey - 3.2 to place in the first five and 1.75 to beat Dougherty in the tournament match-betting - is capable of shooting very low if he gets his putter working while Jimenez already has six top-10 finishes to his name this year and is trading at 1.99 to make it seven.

It would be a mistake to rule out Order of Merit leader Stenson after a second round 66 raised his hopes of retaining the title he won in a play-off last year and looks well-priced at 4 to come in the top five.

The likes of Paul Broadhurst (150 to win) and Raphael Jacquelin (100 to win) are also not far away on five-under and could come into the reckoning.

Keep an eye out, too, for young Englishman Tom Whitehouse who has finished in the top 10 in his last two events, is handily placed in the group on six-under and is available at inviting odds of 200 to win, 12.5 to come in the top five and 4.9 to finish in the top 10 again.

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