Westwood is in the pink as he takes advantage of purple patch

Raising money for research into breast cancer was the cause and at the end of it all Lee Westwood was the man beating his chest, clutching the halfway lead of those able to complete their second rounds in the Quinn Insurance British Masters at The Belfry.

In the pink: Lee Westwood finds a purple patch at the Belfry

That is metaphorically speaking, by the way, for after his two-under-par 70 Westwood was just beat, full stop. The second round is often the one where jet-lag kicks in and after a three-hour delay for fog and a five-hour round, he barely had the energy to beat traffic.

You can imagine how pleased he was, then, when a European Tour official told him he was required to give a drug test. Just what he needed.

With the majors gone and the Ryder Cup history, Westwood has turned his attention to the European Tour order of merit. A win tomorrow would narrow the gap on Padraig Harrington at the top to just £80,000, and set up an intriguing last month of the season.

Fatigue was evident in a bumpy old start that saw him register three bogeys in his first five holes. Westwood, however, kept on course for a successful defence by showing off the improved short game that has been a hallmark of his consistency.

The trigger was getting away with what can only be described, in the context of the day, as pink murder at the 18th. This was his ninth hole and he tugged a drive so far left it had to finish in this hole's fabled water hazard. As it was, he cleared it by barely a yard.

Having escaped with that one, Westwood then hit a short iron every bit as badly, leaving him with a difficult chip. Then came the moment of magic to rescue his score, as he threw the ball high into the air with his wedge and holed the four-foot putt.

Westwood, who went on to play the front nine in just 33 following his adventure at The Belfry's most famous hole, is overdue a victory. The 35-year-old Englishman has hardly been off a leaderboard since he claimed this title last year, but with nothing to show for his efforts in terms of polished silver.

This should be the weekend where he puts that to rights. A night's rest in his own bed, followed by a lie-in this morning as the second round is completed, before he steps back out on to a course that plays to all his strengths?He will certainly be disappointed if he doesn't win.

One of those hoping to put pressure on Westwood is former Open champion Paul Lawrie, who is three shots adrift. If he were to prevail he should instantly donate some of his £300,000 winnings to his father-inlaw.

Why so? Lawrie has a full-sized green in his Aberdeen back garden but it is his close relation who is in charge of a swish new mower that has brought the green up to tournament speed.

'I don't think it is a coincidence that my putting has improved greatly since we got it,' said Lawrie.