Appleby leads by a stroke in South Africa

SUN CITY, South Africa - Stuart Appleby of Australia was the only player to break 70 Friday, shooting a 3-under-par 69 that left him with a one-stroke lead over Lee Westwood of England halfway through the Nedbank Golf Challenge.

Appleby was at 5-under 139 after two rounds. Westwood had a double bogey on the 17th, a water hole, and finished with his second straight 70 for a 140 total.

"Double bogeys are always a disappointment," Westwood said. "I made a couple of slip-ups today and was just unlucky on the 17th."

With temperatures at 97 degrees, the Gary Player Country Club course proved difficult, with British Open champion Todd Hamilton and former U.S. Open winner Jim Furyk among those unable to break par.

Westwood and Appleby had shared the first-round lead with South Africans Ernie Els and Retief Goosen. Goosen, the U.S. Open champion, shot a 71 and was tied at 141 with Zimbabwe's Nick Price, who had a 70. Els was at 144 after a 74 that was marked by a triple-bogey 7 on the 11th hole. Defending champion Sergio Garcia of Spain shot a 76 and was at 151.

Appleby attributed his strong performance to better putting.

"The ball has just not been rolling well for the last 18 months," he said. "But I felt a shift today and I started hitting some quality putts."

Price, a Hall of Famer winding down his career, said it was getting more difficult to motivate himself for tournaments.

"I am not practicing with the same intensity as I used to," he said. "The sacrifices I have to make are just getting harder."