NEWPORT, Wales (AP) — Marcel Siem of Germany and Australia's Andrew Doht share a one shot lead at 6-under at the halfway mark of the Wales Open at Celtic Manor yesterday.

Siem shot seven birdies in a 4-under 67 while Doht added a 1-under 70 to his opening round of 66.

Although England's Luke Donald produced nine birdies early in the second round to equal Chris Wood's first-day course record of 6-under 65, the halfway cut fell at three over par, one of the highest scores on the European Tour this year.

"The course is great but it was windy," said Siem, who shot a 2-under 69 in his opening round. "Not that strong a wind but it was gusty and came from all over the place. Sometimes you felt you were playing downwind and (when) next playing in the same direction you felt you were playing into it.

"And the pin positions we played for the first two rounds were usually Sunday pin positions which made the course really tough."

Dane Thomas Bjorn is a shot behind the joint leaders after he added a 3-under 68 to his first round 69.

Bjorn had missed the cuts at the last six tournaments and said he was unsure whether he would ever regain the form that allowed him to record nine victories before 2006 and win two Ryder Cup caps for Europe.

"After missing the cut at Wentworth I went and had a week," said Bjorn. "I relaxed a bit and tried to get my head straight because when you don't get results golf can become very frustrating. I decided to try to build scores rather than play aggressively."