Shanghai, China – Peter Hanson fired an 8-under 64 on Friday to grab a 2-stroke lead after 36 holes at the BMW Masters.
Hanson, who won for the fifth time on the European Tour earlier this year, finished two rounds at 14-under-par 130.
The Swede leads his Ryder Cup teammate, Rory McIlroy, by a pair. McIlroy carded a 65 to move into second place at minus-12 at Lake Malaren Golf Club. He won the Shanghai Masters on that course last year.
Robert Karlsson also had a 64 to jump into third at 9-under-par 135.
First-round leader Jamie Donaldson stumbled to a 2-over 74. He dipped into a share of fourth at minus-8 with Justin Rose (68), Alexander Noren (68) and Shane Lowry (64).
Hanson and McIlroy helped the Europeans win the Ryder Cup last month and three of their teammates -- Luke Donald (67), Nicolas Colsaerts (68), and Martin Kaymer (69) -- are among eight players tied for eighth at 7-under 137.
Ten players from the winning European Ryder Cup team are in the field, as is captain Jose Maria Olazabal, and five of them stand in the top 15 on the leaderboard at the halfway point.
Hanson tripped out of the gate with a bogey on the first, but that was his last dropped shot of the day. He erased that mistake with his second birdie in two days at the par-5 third.
The Swede came back with a birdie on the fifth, then birdied six and seven, both for the second round in a row. Hanson poured in a birdie try at the eighth for his fourth consecutive birdie.
That last birdie at No. 8 gave him the lead at 10-under. Hanson converted three straight birdie tries, all from inside six feet, from the 11th. That run kept him one ahead of McIlry, who had his own burst of birdies.
Hanson ran home a 20-foot birdie putt at the par-5 15th to push his lead to two. He parred out to remain there.
"It's amazing how many good rounds come together after a bogey on the first," Hanson said. "It's pretty soft, so you can see yourself shooting some low scores here. I'm happy with the way I played so far and I know it's going to be a tough one coming up against the world No. 1 these last couple of days on a golf course he obviously loves. He won here last year."
McIlroy had three separate bursts to climb into second place. He converted back-to-back birdie chances from the second and again from the eighth to make the turn at minus-9.
The Ulsterman parred the first three holes on the back nine, before catching fire again. McIlroy birdied the 13th and followed with birdies on 14 and 15 to get within two of the lead.
"It was a very good day. I played very well - a little better than I did yesterday," McIlroy stated. "I hit the ball a lot better, and gave myself plenty of opportunities. When I did need to make a par putt here or there, I was able to save those, and overall it was just a very good round of golf and obviously in a great position going into the weekend."
NOTES: Hanson has birdied the third, sixth, seventh, 11th, 13th and 15th in both rounds...Hanson owns the 36-hole lead for the sixth time in his career on the European Tour. He won the first three times, but failed to hold the last two 36-hole leads.
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