Golf-Donald poised as Scottish Open second round finally ends

INVERNESS, Scotland, July 10 (Reuters) - Briton Luke Donald stayed on course to keep his world No. 1 status going into next week’s British Open when the weather-disrupted Scottish Open second round finished early on Sunday.

A five-under-par 67 by Donald took him to 10-under 134, just a stroke away from the joint leaders.
Fellow Britons Graeme McDowell, Scott Jamieson and Peter Whiteford finished their rounds on Friday to take over at the top before storms hit the Castle Stuart course to play havoc with the second round.
Swedish Ryder Cup player Peter Hanson returned to the course on Sunday to fire a 67 to make it a four-way lead.
Donald could still be overtaken in the rankings by compatriot and world number two Lee Westwood after the third and final round completes on Sunday.
Westwood’s 71, after a similar return to the soaking Castle Stuart to finish his round, left him three strokes off the lead.
Colin Montgomerie’s bid to clinch a British Open spot from a top five finish is still alive after the 48-year-old former European number one shot a 69 that also left him only three shots off the pace.
Veteran Briton Barry Lane is a surprise contender, lying just a stroke off the lead following a 67.
Lane, a member of the 1993 European Ryder Cup team that lost narrowly to the U.S. at the Belfry, is mixing senior golf with regular tour events. He is seeking his sixth European Tour title seven years after his last—the 2004 British Masters.