• The Masters, Round Two

Westwood and Poulter fly the flag for Britain

Lee Westwood stormed into an early lead with an eagle on the second © Getty Images

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• Gallery: The Masters: Round Two

Second round gallery

Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter lead the way at the halfway point of the Masters in Augusta, with world No. 1 Tiger Woods breathing down their necks.

The British pair ended the second day on eight-under par, two shots of clear of the chasing pack of five, including 14-time Major winner Woods.

Westwood raced to an early lead with a eagle on the second followed by a birdie, to hold a two-shot lead over Poulter, who was on eight-under after his second round of 68. However, a double-bogey on the 14th and a bogey on the 18th saw the Race to Dubai champion surrender his outright lead.

Crowd favourite Phil Mickelson enjoyed a strong finish to join Woods, Anthony Kim, Ricky Barnes and KJ Choi on six-under par.

Poulter's 68 was the best round of the day, and he was delighted with his performance. "I'm pleased that I gave myself so many chances, and I would say it's one of best rounds of golf I've played in a while," he said.

The British pair will be the final pairing to take to the course on Saturday, and Westwood believes playing alongside his friend will give them both an advantage over the rest of the field.

"Ian and I play a lot together, we played a practice here on Tuesday," he said. "I think it will be a bit of an advantage playing together tomorrow as it will be a bit more relaxing."

The pair will fly the flag for Britain, on what was an otherwise disappointing day for British hopes, with no other British players making the cut.

Luke Donald and Graeme McDowell were the best of the rest on five-over par and will not return to the course after missing out by two shots, while Paul Casey, who pulled out of the Houston Open with a shoulder injury, was far from his best as he moved to nine-under after carding a 78.

Rory McIlroy failed to hit a single birdie as he slumped to a five-over 77, seven-over for the opening 36 holes.

"I'm just not playing very well," he said. "It is the sort of golf course that if you are slightly off it makes your mistakes look even worse. I didn't play well enough, obviously I am disappointed, but I have got a couple of weeks off now to work on my game to get back into shape.

Padraig Harrington also missed the cut by two shots after a second-round 75, but Sergio Garcia lived to fight another day after his two-under 70 takes him to par for the opening two rounds. Ernie Els is also all-square after carding a 73.

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