Gonzo Storms Top in Singapore Open

The Singapore Open has been reduced to 54 holes after play was called off for the day due to lightning at Sentosa Golf Club with Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano leading the way on 15 under par.

Play was suspended for almost three hours on Friday due to thunderstorms, meaning a number of the field had to return this morning to finish their second rounds.

However, the third round was also halted on account of lightning before eventually being suspended with play to resume early Sunday morning.

With the event now reduced to 54 holes, it leaves Fernandez-Castano firm favourite to claim the title as the Spaniard took a three-shot lead after posting a second round of 61 this morning.

Fernandez-Castano carded five birdies coming home on the Tanjong Course as he completed his second round in style to move clear of Edoardo Molinari and James Morrison.

'I am thrilled, you don't shoot 10-under very often,' he said. 'You don't really know how the suspensions are going to affect you. I was lucky because yesterday I didn't tee off before the thunder storm. I took my time. I took it easy and started well with three birdies. 

'It was great and then I had a good start again this morning. I played well of course. To play well you need to hole putts and that is what I did.

'I found something with my swing. I have been injured for six months at the beginning of the year and it took me a while to find my swing and what I want to do with the ball.

'I finally did and of course the big thing was the putting. I changed my putting method at the Czech Open in mid August. Since then my putting has improved a lot. It's the claw grip. I am just imitating Sergio Garcia to see if I can win as many tournaments as he does.'

He added: 'It's a shame that the tournament has to be reduced to 54 holes. It's good for me to be leading after 36 but I don't think that's what anyone wants, players, sponsors, officials, spectators, Sentosa - everyone would rather be playing 72 holes.

'There is a long way to go with 18 holes tomorrow and there are some great players just behind me on the leaderboard. It's going to be a tough day so I have to go out there and play my own game and see what happens.

'I mean, six months ago I didn't know what was going on with my back injury and to be honest I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to play again. So after spending six months on the bench I am very proud of the way I have been able to come back.'

Molinari was unable to make much headway into Fernandez-Castano's lead, picking up a birdie at the 12th as the Italian resumed on the Serapong Course before eventually signing for a 68 to join Morrison on 12 under while Juvic Pagunsan is in third spot two shots further back after firing his second successive 66.

New Zealander Danny Lee climbed into the group on nine-under following a 65, alongside Anders Hansen and Michael Hoey, while Scot Richie Ramsay also carded a 65 to move to eight-under alongside Justin Rose and YE Yang, who could only manage a 71.

Colin Montgomerie returned a 71 to make the cut and a birdie at the 11th moved the veteran to five-under before his third round was halted just two holes in.

Simon Dyson, Phil Mickelson and Graeme McDowell also made the cut but Padraig Harrington missed out as a 77 left the Irishman four over par.

McIlroy Makes World Number 2 Spot

Rory McIlroy is up to second in the world rankings after his fourth-place finish in the HSBC Champions event.

A last-hole birdie in Shanghai was enough to lift him to a career-high ranking, one which leaves only England's Luke Donald ahead of the 22-year-old US Open champion.

If he had parred the 18th hole, McIlroy would have been in a four-way tie for sixth and would have stayed behind Lee Westwood in the ranking list.

But he hit his approach to the par five to the back of the green and two-putted to boost his ranking position.

Martin Kaymer's victory at the tournament lifted him back to fourth in the ranking list, giving Europe the top four places again.

He carded a final round of 63 to win, one which contained nine birdies in the last 12 holes.

Meanwhile, Kaymer's win puts him second in the European Tour's 'Race To Dubai' money list, ahead of McIlroy.

He now has 2,830,264 euros, but remains more than a million behind leader Luke Donald (3,856,394) as the race heads towards its conclusion at next month's Dubai World Championship.

Kaymer's title triumph has also put him at the head of the race for a spot in Europe's Ryder Cup team.

The German is top of the European points list, the top five on which make the team. The top five on the world points list (who have not already qualified) on August 26 next year also make the 12-man line-up, with captain Jose Maria Olazabal able to choose two wild cards.

Ryder Cup standings (capitals indicate players in qualifying positions):

European points list: 1 MARTIN KAYMER 1,179,368, 2 SERGIO GARCIA 833,330, 3 RORY McILROY 789,420, 4 MICHAEL HOEY 641,387, 5 GRAEME McDOWELL 511,571, 6 Fredrik Jacobson 473,747, 7 Thomas Bjorn 461,427, 8 Tom Lewis 459,265, 9 Simon Dyson 444,241, 10 David Lynn 429,064.

World Rankings

World points list: 1 LUKE DONALD 100.32, 2 Martin Kaymer 97.77, 3 Rory McIlroy 93.08, 4 JUSTIN ROSE 81.46, 5 Sergio Garcia 71.93, 6 FREDRIK JACOBSON 57.67, 7 SIMON DYSON 55.43, 8 Michael Hoey 55.42, 9 THOMAS BJORN 54.38, 10 Graeme McDowell 46.22.

Rory McIlroy Wins Shanghai Masters

Rory McIlroy beat American Anthony Kim in a play-off to win the Shanghai Masters.

McIlroy gave up an early three-shot lead before rallying on the back nine to finish level with Kim at 18-under and force the play-off.

The 22-year-old had a chance to win with an eight-foot birdie putt on the 18th, but missed by inches.

Both players drove into the bunker on the first hole, but Kim missed his putt, while McIlroy sank his to win.

McIlroy pocketed £1.24 ($2m) first-place prize money, the richest in golf, while Kim took home £465,000 ($750,000). Thirty players took part in the invitational, first-year tournament, which is not sanctioned by a major tour.

American Hunter Mahan and South Korea's Noh Seung-yul finished equal third at 13-under.

England's world number two Lee Westwood hit a hole in one on the 12th hole and seven birdies for a 67, finishing in fifth place at 12-under. It was the best round of the week for Westwood, despite the fact he ended with two bogeys.

The final round turned into an unexpected battle between McIlroy and world number 82 Kim.

There were echoes of McIlroy's stunning collapse at the Masters earlier this year when he surrendered a four-shot lead in the final round at Augusta on his way to an 80.

The Shanghai Masters has the biggest first prize in golf of $2m (£1.24m), with the runner-up receiving $750,000 (£465,000), from a total prize pot of $5m (£3.1m).

After three rounds of relatively mistake-free golf in Shanghai, the world number three hit into the water and bunkers, and missed several close putts, but this time, he was able to turn it around.

The Northern Irishman, playing his first event since changing management, resumed three clear, but had a bogey to Kim's birdie on the first and, when he dropped another shot at the 11th, trailed by one.

McIlroy drew level with a birdie at the 15th, however, and with pars at the final three holes they tied on the 18-under-par mark of 270, McIlroy going round in a level-par 72 to Kim's 69.

At the first extra hole Kim missed a three-foot putt and McIlroy's two-footer for par gave him the title.

"I've been close in two or three tournaments and had two thirds and two seconds and was finally able to get myself over the line today," said McIlroy.

"This was the third play-off of my career, and I was able to win this one, so at least my record in these events is getting better.

"I am just delighted to get another win."

McIlroy Leads Shanghai Masters

Rory McIlroy shot a three-under-par 69 to take a two-stroke lead after the second round of the Shanghai Masters Invitational golf tournament on Friday.

McIlroy struggled with the front nine, bogeying the fourth hole before conceding a double bogey on the difficult, par-four ninth to drop back into a four-way share of the lead.

He recovered with four birdies on the back nine to finish on 11 under.

Ian Poulter is six under after a 71 and Lee Westwood five under following a 70.

US Open champion McIlroy is two strokes ahead of South Korea's Noh Seung-yul.

Noh, 20, made the biggest move of the day, sinking nine birdies for a 63, the lowest round of the tournament so far.

His excellent round saw him move from joint 18th place after round one to second.

McIlroy also led the tournament after the opening round after shooting a bogey-free round of 64.

Noh, ranked 95th in the world, achieved his biggest victory to date at the Malaysian Open last year, where he become the second-youngest winner in European Tour history.

He is also a former Asian Tour rookie of the year.

Anthony Kim of the United States (68) and Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa (66) are a stroke behind Noh at eight under, followed by Padraig Harrington of Ireland (70) and Hunter Mahan of the United States (72).

Mahan, who was in second place after the opening round, also had trouble on the front nine on Friday, bogeying twice and holing just one birdie.

He was at one under for the day until bogeying the 18th hole to finish at even par.

Poulter and Robert Karlsson (69) are six under, and John Daly followed his opening 69 with a 70 to match Westwood, Colin Montgomerie (69) and Masters champion Charl Schwartzel (69) at five under.

There are 30 players, including 10 major winners, vying for the $2 million first prize, the richest in golf.

The International Management Group-run event, being held for the first year, is not sanctioned by a major tour and does not have world-ranking points.

Horizon's GMAC No Rory Role

Graeme McDowell has insisted he played no role in Rory McIlroy's recent decision to quit the ISM management stable.

McIlroy caused more than a few a ripples in golfing circles after announcing he had decided to leave Andrew 'Chubby' Chandler's ISM team to join Dublin-based Horizon Sports - the company that represents McDowell.

McDowell and McIlroy - the last two US Open champions - are close friends and McDowell also opted to leave ISM for Horizon earlier in his career.

With speculation swirling that he had influenced McIlroy's decision, McDowell has come out to deny any such involvement.

Business decision

"Rory's a very intelligent man, he's got to make his own decisions about his career and I certainly would never want to get involved in a guy's career like that," McDowell told Sky Sports.

"Rory's going to be one of the best players in the world, if not the best, he's going to win a lot of major championships and never would I want to get involved in a guy's business decision like that.

"Rory's witnessed the job Horizon have done for me over the last few years, we're very close friends and he knows they've done a great job for me.

"I really have no idea what went wrong within the ISM camp but we're very excited to have him at Horizon Sports and I'm very happy to have a friend, and a friendly rivalry, within the camp."

Meanwhile, McDowell believes he is close to rediscovering the kind of form that saw him win no fewer than four times last season.

The 32-year-old admits he has struggled to hit the heights this time around but is hopeful the Andalucia Masters will signal a change in fortunes.

Returning as champion, McDowell got his defence at Valderrama underway with a two-over 73, but is hopeful the tournament in Spain will spark a late-season charge.

Turned the corner

"It's great to be back here defending this year and looking for a bit of a special spark that perhaps this golf course will give to me," he continued.

"I've been working hard, I feel like I've been playing pretty well the last couple of months and I've really turned that corner.

"It's been a frustrating year for me, no doubt about it, but the Dunhill Links, finishing third there, gave me a lot of confidence and my game's really getting there.

"I'm starting to understand my mechanics a bit better than I have this year and understanding where the bad ones come from and, of course, where the good ones come from so I'm excited.

"I've got a great schedule this next seven weeks and this is where it's all going to start for me."