Padraig Battles Beach Weather

Padraig Harrington moved into a share of third place at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in California, as Charlie Wi opened up a three-shot lead at the top of the leaderboard.

Avoiding the worst of the afternoon weather at Pebble Beach, South Korean Wi holed a wedge for eagle on the 13th en route to a 69 that lifted him to 12 under.

Dustin Johnson, a two-time winner of this event, went round Spyglass Hill in 72 to lie second, while Harrington recorded five birdies in his first seven holes before eventually signing for a 66 at Pebble.

He was one of five players on eight under, along with New Zealander Danny Lee, who followed his opening 63 with a one over 73 at Spyglass.

Former World Number One Tiger Woods was a further two shots back, having managed just a 68 at Monterey Peninsula, the easiest of the three courses.

Woods told the PGA Tour website: “Drove it good again today, unfortunately just didn’t make enough birdies.”

Lying in a tie for 16th, Woods added about the deteriorating weather: “The golf course got a little interesting coming in.

“I was hitting the ball in the wrong spots. And the greens started to get a little bumpy with the softer conditions.”

Commmenting on his round at Pebble, Wi added: “The greens were very firm, and the guys that shot eight or nine under out there, I was very surprised how well they played. Some of the pins were really tricky.

“I said, `Gosh, how did they shoot nine under out there?' And for me to shoot three under today, I was very pleased.”

England’s Greg Owen added a 67 to his opening 68 to sit in a nine-way tie for eighth at seven under.

Rory's Got Bjorn Company

Rory McIlroy and Thomas Bjorn share the halfway lead at the Dubai Desert Classic after an action-packed second round.

World number two McIlroy added a sublime 65 to his opening 66 to post 13-under in the morning session and, later in the day, Bjorn birdied the 18th to card a seven-under round of his own to join the US Open champion at the top.

The two former winners (McIlroy 2009) and Bjorn (2001) are one in front of first round leader Rafael Cabrera-Bello and two clear of a three-man group which features world number four Martin Kaymer, who produced the highlight of the day by making a hole-in-one at the 186-yard seventh.

That helped him to a 67 and a share of fourth place with Scotland's Scott Jamieson and Frenchman Gregory Bourdy.

World number three Lee Westwood is also right in the hunt after a hat-trick of closing birdies gave him a 65 and a share of seventh place on 10-under alongside Germany's Marcel Siem and Scotland's Stephen Gallacher.

McIlroy landed his first professional title on the Emirates Course in 2009 and also led the tournament for the first three rounds last year.

Great position

After his 65, he told Sky Sports: "I just kept picking up birdies along the way and it puts me in a great position.

"I feel a lot more confident than I did in Abu Dhabi."

Despite battling his swing, he lost by just one to Robert Rock there two weeks ago and that after incurring a two-shot penalty for brushing sand away from his line off the green.

For Kaymer it was a first-ever hole-in-one, but the prize of a watch will go to his physio after a bet they have every week.

"It will be a good celebration tonight," he said.

Bjorn and Westwood both said that patience had been a key factor in their 65s.

"There's a tricky spell on this golf course, six through nine, and that can really come up and bite you," said Bjorn, "so you've got to keep your patience because the back nine offers a lot of opportunities."

Despite McIlroy, Kaymer and Westwood presenting daunting opposition, Bjorn knows he can beat them.

"The good thing for me is I won in Switzerland (September's Omega European Masters) with those three on the leaderboard as well and that's not too long ago," said the Dane, who racked up three victories on the European Tour in 2011.

Westwood said his "perseverance" pleased him most.

"I gave myself a lot of chances out there and kept burning the hole and left a few hanging on the edges," said the Englishman. "I just had to be really patient."

Second round leaderboard

-13 R McIlroy

-13 T Bjorn (Den)

-12 R Cabrera-Bello (Spa)

-11 M Kaymer (Ger)

-11 G Bourdy (Fra)

-11 S Jamieson

-10 S Gallacher

-10 M Siem (Ger)

-10 L Westwood

Pebble Time for Harrington

Tiger Woods has dominated the build-up to the AT&T National Pro-am at Pebble Beach this week. Not surprising given the momentum he has created in his last four tournaments.

For Irish eyes though it is the appearance of Pádraig Harrington’s in the United States that is of the most interest, having not played on the other side of the Atlantic since September.

Ireland’s three-time major winner almost certainly has to win on Sunday to book himself a place in the first world championship of the season. Any failure to do that will damage his hopes of retaining his Ryder Cup spot later this year at Medinah

Harrington has played every Accenture Matchplay apart from the inaugural one in 1999, but he stands 93rd in the world and has to climb back into the top 65 to make the trip to Tucson later this month.

The Dubliner has turned to Dave Alred – the man who has linked up with world number one Luke Donald and rugby star Jonny Wilkinson – to help him this season They worked together for the first time in Abu Dhabi a fortnight ago.

Harrington came only 35th and wrote afterwards about Alred  “I am very excited about working with him and I can’t wait to get to see him again. I was asked about what he does. The best way I could explain it was that he doesn’t have new answers or questions, he merely asks the same questions but in a different way.

“He observed what I do and then gave his thoughts on how I could do it better. He has totally changed the way I will practice by giving it more meaning. The changes will have a huge effect for the rest of the year.”

Harrington plays in Pebble Beach with racehorse owner JP McManus and start on the Monterey Peninsular course on Thursday.

Woods will tee off at Spyglass Hill.

Rory Looking for Early Win

Rory McIlroy admits he is looking to get an early win under his belt this season as he prepares for the familiar challenge of the Dubai Desert Classic this week.

The US Open champion almost got his year off to the perfect start in Abu Dhabi two weeks ago, but eventually finished runner-up to Robert Rock in his first competitive outing of 2012.

A two-shot penalty in the second round ultimately proved costly for the Ulsterman, but he is hoping to put that frustration of that near miss behind him in the closing leg of the European Tour's Desert Swing.

Despite still being just 22 years of age, McIlroy will be making his seventh appearance at the event in Dubai this week and will be looking for another big performance having followed his maiden Tour victory there in 2009 with top-10 finishes the past two seasons.

"I've spent a good bit of time here in the past and, after playing in Abu Dhabi, spent the week here practicing, working on my game and I'm looking forward to this week," he told reporters.

"This is my seventh Dubai Desert Classic, I've played every year since '06 and I obviously got good memories of here from winning in '09 and being in contention the last couple of years.

"I feel like it's a golf course that I play well on and hopefully I can play well on it again.

"In Abu Dhabi I scored very well and was able to get myself in contention which was great.

"But I felt like I needed to work on a couple of things last week, which I did, and it feels like they're getting better.

"It's always nice to start off the season like that, I feel like I had a great chance to win and didn't quite do it, but it would be great to get a win under my belt pretty early this season and try and win here a place that I've won at before and a course I really enjoy to play."

Clarke and McIlroy Win Laureus Gongs

Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy and Darren Clarke have both added a Laureus Award to the major titles they won last year.

On a festive Monday night in London when tennis ace Novak Djokovic beat a stellar group in winning the 'World Sportsman of the Year' Award and Kenya's 5,000 and 10,000 metre world champion Vivian Cheruiyot edged out golf's dynamic Yani Tseng to claim the 'World Sportswoman of the Year' Award, McIlroy was voted the 'Breakthrough of the Year' Award winner and Clarke won the 'Comeback of the Year' title.

McIlroy, 22, claimed his award thanks to claiming his first major title with a dazzling eight-shot victory in the US Open at Congressional. It made him the second youngest winner of a major.

His 43-year-old Ulster compatriot, Clarke, got the nod in his category for hoisting himself out of a slump to win The Open Championship at Royal St George's - also his first major title.

Double amputee Oscar Pistorius won the disability award. The South African 400-meter specialist known as 'The Blade Runner' won a silver medal in the relay at the able-bodied World Athletic Championships last year in South Korea, and had also been nominated for the 'Breakthrough' category won by McIlroy.

English football great Bobby Charlton was given the lifetime achievement award 54 years to the day after surviving the Munich air disaster that killed eight team-mates of his Manchester United team.

The 74-year-old Charlton was unable to personally receive the award. Laureus officials said he fell ill on Sunday and returned to Manchester on Monday for unspecified minor surgery.

United manager Alex Ferguson accepted the award on Charlton's behalf. He said Charlton was fine but "very annoyed" at not being able to attend the ceremony.

The winners were chosen by the 47 world renowned sports stars who make up the Laureus sports academy.

ALL THE WINNERS AND NOMINEES:

(Winners names in bold type):

World Sportsman of the Year:

Usain Bolt, Novak Djokovic, Lionel Messi, Dirk Nowitzki, Sebastian Vettel, Cadel Evans

World Sportswoman of the Year:

Vivian Cheruiyot, Maria Höfl-Riesch, Carmelita Jeter, Petra Kvitova, Homare Sawa, Yani Tseng

World Sports Team of the Year

All Blacks, FC Barcelona, Dallas Mavericks, England Cricket Team, Japan Women's Football Team, Red Bull F1 team

World Breakthrough of the Year:

Yohan Blake, Petra Kvitova, Rory McIlroy, Li Na, Oscar Pistorius, Mo Farah

World Comeback of the Year:

Eric Abidal, Darren Clarke, Crusaders, Sergio Garcia, Liu Xiang, Queensland Reds

World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability:

Daniel Dias, Terezinha Guilhermina, Oscar Pistorius, Esther Vergeer, David Weir, Irek Zaripov

World Action Sportsperson of the Year:

Jamie Bestwick, Philip Köster, Carissa Moore, Travis Rice, Kelly Slater, Shaun White