SHANGHAI: Lucas Bjerregaard is learning how to deal with the pressure of playing from the front, and closing in on a maiden European Tour title, too.

The Dane heads into the weekend with a three-stroke lead at the BMW Masters after carding a 6-under 66 in Friday’s second round.

Bjerregaard trailed overnight leader Sergio Garcia for much of the day before surging into the lead with three birdies in his last four holes to match his opening-round score. He’s now shot below 70 in 12 of his last 13 rounds since mid-October, going a combined 47 under.

Garcia, meanwhile, ran into trouble on his back nine on a cold, blustery day at Lake Malaren Golf Club. He bogeyed No. 12 and hit into the water on No. 13 for a double-bogey, falling four strokes back.

The Spaniard recovered to shoot a 71 and tie for second place at 9 under with Thongchai Jaidee (68).

Bjerregaard has been in top form this autumn, posting four top-10 finishes on the European Tour and falling just short of capturing his first title at the Hong Kong Open three weeks ago. Playing in the final group, the 24-year-old Dane led Justin Rose by a stroke down the stretch before a double-bogey gave victory to the Englishman.

Still, it was a far better finish than the last time Bjerregaard played in the final group on a Sunday at the Alfred Dunhill Championship last December — he collapsed with a 17-over 89 in the final round.

Ian Poulter (68), Paul Casey (69) and An Byeong-hun (71) were tied for fourth at 8 under on Friday, while Peter Uihlein (66) sank seven straight birdies to jump into a tie for seventh at 7 under with Ross Fisher (71).

Playing alongside Bjerregaard, Uihlein began his birdie spree on the par-5 15th hole and narrowly missed matching the European Tour record of eight consecutive birdies when his 20-foot putt on the par-3 fourth hole slid just to the right of the cup.

Garcia, who shot 64 on Thursday, made three birdies in a blemish-free front nine to get to 11 under before faltering on No. 12 and 13. His second shot on the par-5 15th found the bunker next to the green, but he made a nice recovery to birdie the hole and get a stroke back.

The BMW Masters is the third of four events in the European Tour’s Final Series, which ends next week at the DP World Tour Championships in Dubai. Race to Dubai leader Rory McIlroy is skipping this week’s tournament, giving Danny Willett a chance to pass him in the standings with a strong showing in Shanghai.

Willett shot a 69 to get to 3 under on Friday in a tie for 28th.

Barr opens up lead in Singapore

Australian Scott Barr opened up a lead in the rain-delayed second round of the World Classic Championship in Singapore on Friday, carding an even-par 71 for a total score of two-under par 140.

Malaysia’s Nicholas Fung fired a 67 to stay one stroke behind Barr at the tricky Laguna National Golf and Country Club.

Barr however has two Thais, Chinnarat Phadungsil and Natipong Srithong, chasing the lead after they carded three-under par 68 before fading light halted play for the second straight day.

Play was suspended for more than two hours due to thunderstorms in the afternoon.

Chinnarat has six holes to complete and Natipong seven in round two when play resumes Saturday morning for the inaugural $750,000 Asian Tour Event.

They will be joined by 64 other players, including first round joint-leaders Sam Brazel of Australia and South Korean Wang Jeung-Hun.

National Laguna-based Barr, who carded six birdies Thursday, managed only two on Friday. He had as many bogeys, in the 5th and 14th holes, and was only relieved to keep his lead.