Westwood cruising into contention

Lee Westwood would not normally be satisfied to be in joint 14th place and four strokes off the lead halfway through a major.

But such were the names ahead of him at the USPGA Championship in Atlanta that a first major title for the world number two - and a 'Chubby Slam' for his manager Andrew 'Chubby' Chandler - might just be 36 holes away.

Westwood admitted the pressure was on when he began his first round on Thursday, with Steve Stricker already in with a major record-equalling 63, saying: "I thought at the start of the week six under was going to win the tournament and it may still do."

He added: "I'm sort of cruising into position. I wanted to shoot something in the 60s, hopefully to try to get into the red and be in good position."

Before the tournament Westwood, who turned to American sports psychologist Bob Rotella for help, spoke about having a lighter attitude.

"It's hard," he admitted. "It's difficult to try your hardest and not care about the results. They contradict one another.

"But I'm breezing around out there and trying to smile whenever I can and not really worry about what's going on too much.

"It helps if you're relaxed and trying to free-wheel. I didn't think there would be a 63 on around here, but these guys are good, I guess."

Leaders Jason Dufner and Keegan Bradley are ranked 80th and 108th in the world respectively and did not have the spotlight on them as they scored 65 and a best-of-the-day 64 on Friday. It will be very different in the third round.

One behind are Scott Verplank (87th), Australian John Senden (92nd), DA Points (105th) and Jim Furyk, the one major winner in the top 13, but a man who has fallen from second in the world to 25th.