BLACKWOOD'S Bradley Dredge was on his way home from Germany yesterday after crashing out of the BMW International.

Dredge finished way down the leaderboard as he could not take advantage of the generous Munich course which saw a host of players shoot under par scores.

Dredge could only manage two rounds of even par 72 over the course which was nowhere near enough to make the halfway cut.

Such were the low scores during the first couple of rounds that the cut came at three under and Dredge joined fellow Welshmen Mark Pilkington on the flight home.

The tournament is lead by Sweden's Robert Karlsson who has blazed his way around the course to reach 15 under par for the first couple of rounds, shooting an opening 65 on Thursday and going one better yesterday with a blistering 64.

He soared to the top of the leaderboard on the back of two eagles and also chipped in on the seventh for one of his five birdies as he prepared to defend his European Masters title in Switzerland next week.

Karlsson, who also won here in 1997, said: "You always have good feelings when you come back to a course where you have done well before but it's too early to think about winning again.

"There is a little less rough than last year which suits me perfectly. It's set up for a long hitter and you have to play the par fives well. I think I'm 10 under for them so far."

Meanwhile, Lee Westwood was relishing a rare lie-in today as he chases his first tournament victory in almost three years.

Westwood added a second round 68 to his opening 65 for an 11-under-par halfway total of 133.

It means the 30-year-old from Worksop will be among the later starters in the third round and could signal an end to the spectacular loss of form which has seen him slump from fourth in the world to 215th.

Westwood has not won since his seven victories worldwide in 2000 which saw him end Colin Montgomerie's seven-year reign as European number one.

But he began working with renowned coach David Leadbetter in January this year and after painstaking progress, Leadbetter told him at the recent USPGA Championship that his swing 'looked as good as it ever has'.

"It's nice to be in contention again, I haven't been for quite a while," said Westwood who did not have a single top-10 finish throughout last year.

"I'm looking forward to seeing my name on the leaderboard again.

"It's my first time at this course but I've got Pete Coleman working for me now, who caddied for Bernhard Langer for 22 years, so he's been here a few times before and knew all the lines."

l Bernhard Langer refused to rule out giving up the Ryder Cup captaincy if he looked like qualifying for the team.

Langer has been chosen to lead the European team at Oakland Hills in Detroit next year.

But while he conceded it is impossible to combine the roles of player and captain, he said: "I have not ruled anything out, it's too far away."