Westwood's chances improve in Valderrama rain

SOTOGRANDE, Spain (Reuters) - Briton Lee Westwood remained well on target to win a second European order of merit after torrential rain again hit the Volvo Masters on Saturday.

Having gone into the delayed third round in the afternoon two strokes off the pace, by the time the players were called in at 1625 GMT, Westwood had reduced the margin to one.

However, none of the leading players had reached the turn when play ended early because of a waterlogged course.

Denmark's first and second round leader Soren Kjeldsen was still at the top of the leaderboard, but he now shares that place with Spain's Sergio Garcia.

The pair lie five-under, Kjeldsen after six completed holes and Garcia after seven, a stroke better than Westwood, who also has to finish the seventh hole when the field returns to the course on Sunday morning.

Britain's Anthony Wall is a further stroke back, playing in the same match as Kjeldsen and Westwood.

Westwood, 466,606 euros ($596,200) behind money-list leader Robert Karlsson, has to pick up the 708,000 euro first prize to have any chance of winning the order of merit, with Swede Karlsson finishing no better than fourth.

Karlsson lies five-over after 11 holes. He heads Ireland's triple-major champion Padraig Harrington by 297,425 euros on the money-list and is again playing with the Irishman, who has improved to two-over.

Harrington also needs to win to become European number one for a second time.

BIGGEST MARK

Westwood is making the biggest mark on the tournament at this stage, however.

His bid for a second European number one honor began in the morning when the rain-interrupted second round was completed, playing his last 11 holes in six-under after dropping three shots in his first seven.

A steady six holes in incessant rain in the afternoon helped him improve his position.

"After seven holes this morning it wasn't looking good," Westwood told Reuters. "But I'm hitting the ball really well now.

"This afternoon I hit every fairway, I've split the fairway again on the seventh before we came in. I'm playing really solidly and I'm now only a stroke behind.

"I've given myself a great chance of winning this tournament and whatever might come with it, whether we play three rounds or four."

European Tour officials intend keeping the event to 72 holes. The third round will resume at 0830 local time (0730 GMT) on Sunday.

($1=.7826 Euro)

(Editing by Rex Gowar)