McDowell extends lead to 3 at WGC

Shanghai, China (SportsNetwork.com) - Graeme McDowell fired his second straight 5-under 67 on Friday and he extended his lead to three shots heading into the weekend at the WGC - HSBC Champions.

McDowell, who has won 10 times on the European Tour and twice on the PGA Tour, finished 36 holes at 10-under-par 134 and he is three shots ahead of Ian Poulter at Sheshan International Golf Club.

"Two good days work, really," McDowell said. "Yesterday I hit it well. I was pretty clinical off the tee and today I wasn't so clinical off the tee but I was pretty clinical in and around the greens today. I think the common theme the last two days has been a hot putter. I've just got to maintain that into the weekend and see if I can have a chance to win."

Poulter also carded a 67 Friday, vaulting him into second place at 7-under-par 137. Two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson finished strong and he too shot a 67. Watson is tied for third at 6-under 138 with Hiroshi Iwata, who fired a 7- under 65, which is the best score of the week so far.

Rickie Fowler (70) headlines a group of four players tied for fifth at 5-under 139. He is joined there by Kevin Na (68), Jonas Blixt (68) and Tim Clark (70).

McDowell, playing the front nine first, picked up right where he left off on Thursday. After a par at the first, McDowell poured in back-to-back birdies on two and three, getting him into red numbers early. Following four straight pars from four, McDowell made his third gain on No. 8 and closed out his front nine with a par on nine.

It was more of the same on the back nine for McDowell as he made another pair of birdies on 14 and 15 after four straight pars from 10. McDowell finished up with a trio of pars from 16 to conclude his bogey-free 67.

"Not my best ball-striking round," said McDowell. "There's room for improvement there. I can be more clinical with the driver and the irons and I'm going to have to do that if I want to win this weekend."

Poulter was relatively quiet on the front nine before making his move up the leaderboard late in his round. Poulter wrapped eight pars around a birdie on No. 2 on the front nine as he made the turn at minus-1.

The Englishman made four more pars to start the back nine, making it 11 straight pars between birdies. In his final five holes, Poulter drained four birdies to go along with a par on 17, propelling him up the leaderboard and into sole possession of second place at 7-under.

Like Poulter, Watson was slow out of the gate but picked things up down the stretch. The American started off with four straight pars before trading bogeys on five and seven with birdies on six and eight. Watson made the turn at even par for the day after a par on nine.

Four more pars from 10 had Watson looking to make a move, and he did just that over his final five holes. Watson ripped off five straight birdies from 14 to finish off his round in style as he ended 36 holes at 6-under.

Like McDowell and Poulter, Iwata was also bogey-free in his second round. Iwata made two birdies in his first four holes on two and four before making another pair of gains on seven and eight.

After making the turn at 4-under, Iwata started the back nine with a trio of pars. He then drained three birdies in a four-hole stretch from 13, getting Iwata to minus-7 on the day. Iwata ended with a pair of pars to finish up a strong 65.

NOTES: McDowell birdied all but one par-5 on Friday ... Poulter won this event back in 2012 and he has won two WGC events in his career ... Watson has not won since taking home his second Masters title earlier this year ... Former world No. 1 Adam Scott was at one point one shot behind McDowell at 6-under, but he played holes eight through 11 at 7-over, including a quadruple-bogey on eight and a double-bogey on nine. Scott finished at even par for the day and is tied for 15th at 2-under 142 ... European Ryder Cup team member Victor Dubuisson withdrew from the tournament Friday due to a back injury ... Only 26 of 77 players remaining in the field are currently under par through 36 holes.