Lee Westwood’s remarkable 65 in the second round of the Bridgestone Invitational, a World Golf Championships event, served two purposes on another swelteringly hot day. The first was to remind us of just how well Westwood is playing now - the Open, where he finished 67th, 20 over par, excepted - and how much he has benefited from playing the last round of the US Open with Tiger Woods in June and nearly getting into the play-off between Woods and Rocco Mediate.

His five under par is no mean feat on a course as long (7,400 yards), testing and stately as this one, even if the rough has been trimmed from four to two-and-a-half inches. It is the lowest round of the week so far and, though Westwood is one of a group who trail Phil Mickelson, the leader at halfway, by one stroke - Zach Johnson, Peter Lonard and Sean O’Hair are the others - the Englishman is in a good position to crack on at a course where he has a 63 to his name.

Westwood had a near-perfect start, nearly sinking his approach shots to both the 10th and 11th, his first and second holes. Both strokes were played with a wedge and both ended within inches of their target. In all, Westwood had six birdies and one bogey and his steadiness was noticeable.

This is a course where sixes and sevens are always lurking - Martin Kaymer took nine, Paul Casey seven and Nick Dougherty eight on the 16th.

Mickelson, 38, is an enigma. The world No 2 has never won a World Golf Championships event, has never won the United States money list, nor been Player of the Year, nor had the lowest stroke average in the US, nor been No 1 in the world rankings. But what to make of him now that Woods is absent, at least until the end of the year? This should be Mickelson’s time, but who knows? There is no doubt he is playing well though. He has had only one bogey in 36 holes.

Westwood’s form throws into sharp focus the race among a number of players to get into the Europe Ryder Cup team. Westwood is in but Kaymer, understandably affected by the sudden death of his mother recently, is in danger of being overtaken after a 79 that put him 11 over par.

Dougherty, too, whose mother also died suddenly, in April, resembles a man slogging through a very muddy field. His heart is suggesting he should stop and have a good break but his head is no doubt pointing out that he is in with a chance of getting into the Ryder Cup, if only he can hold himself together. He is eight over par.

Paul McGinley is presently 30th in both qualifying tables for the Europe team and thus a long shot in anyone’s book but such are the number of Ryder Cup qualifying points available here that were he to win, then as well as collecting the $1,350,000 (about £680,000) prize-money he would accrue sufficient points to make the team as it stands. A 67 did his cause no harm at all.

Perhaps Casey should be the most concerned. The Englishman, who was in such imperious form in the autumn of 2006, has a lot of work to do to get into this year’s team. At nineteenth in the standings, he has 837,869 points. Justin Rose, lying tenth, has 1,272,37 and Graeme McDowell, in sixth has 1,893,336. Casey is capable of birdies and eagles, which makes him an ideal contender for matchplay golf, but this week has had a number of significant other numbers.

He started seven, three, five on Thursday against a par of four, five, four, taking four putts on the 1st, one putt in his eagle on the second and three putts on the third. He was at it again in his second round. He had that seven on the 16th and then dropped two more on the 18th, his ninth, on his way to a 71.