Late birdie sees Levet share lead

GLENEAGLES, Scotland -- Frenchman Thomas Levet birdied the final hole for a five-under-par 68 to tie Simon Wakefield for the second-round lead in the Johnnie Walker Championship on Friday.

Wakefield battled through a blustery wind in the morning to shoot a 69.

At nine-under-par 137, the pair are one stroke ahead of first-round leader Marc Warren, who shot an even-par 73 despite birdies on the first two holes at Gleneagles.

Colin Montgomerie, who opened with a 69 on Thursday, struggled with the wind and finished with a 74, putting him on three-under-par 143. "I played poorly and drove the ball poorly and that is not a good combination," he said.

Levet won the 2004 Scottish Open and made the Ryder Cup team that year. But last year was ruined by a severe case of vertigo, which kept him largely sidelined from June until December. "As far as I am concerned, I went from 2005 to 2007 -- 2006 did not exist," he said.

Wakefield has struggled since he took third place in the Irish Open in May, missing six cuts in 10 events. However, he signalled a return to form by finishing 27th in last week's Dutch Open.

"Obviously this is what we practice for and it's nice to be on top," Wakefield said. "I hit it really well yesterday and as well again today and made a few putts."

Montgomerie is chairman of the event and defended the selection of this Jack Nicklaus-designed Centenary Course for the 2014 Ryder Cup after Darren Clarke criticized it on Thursday.

Clarke, one of the stars of Europe's win at The K Club in Ireland last year, said it was "beyond my comprehension" that the American-style course was picked to host the event in 2014, instead of one of Scotland's many better-known courses.

Montgomerie said he had no second thoughts about the selection. "I feel the course will stand up to any Ryder Cup and as a venue and a resort, there are very few better," he said. "I think the Ryder Cup will stand on its own two feet here very, very well." E-mail to a friend