Westwood, Poulter enjoying the view

An already compelling Masters grew even more so yesterday when Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter grabbed a share of the halfway lead at 8 under. The two Brits, who shot rounds of 69 and 68, respectively, hold a two-shot lead over Tiger Woods (70), Phil Mickelson (71), K.J. Choi (71), Anthony Kim (70) and Ricky Barnes (70) on the most impressive leader board at Augusta National after 36 holes in recent memory.

Of the 11 top guys, five of them have won a total of 26 major championships. Defending champion Angel Cabrera made a birdie on his final hole to make the cut at 3 over par as 48 players will tee it up over the weekend. The final two rounds figure to produce an exciting showdown among a bevy of players with impressive resumes. Anyone of the 20 players currently in red numbers realistically has a shot at winning if they make a move in today's third round.

Y.E. Yang, who rallied to beat Woods at the PGA Championship eight months ago, is 5 under. First-round leader Fred Couples made five bogeys in his last 10 holes to shoot 75 and get in the clubhouse at 3 under, tied with Tom Watson, who shot a 74, and Soren Kjeldsen (70-71). Hunter Mahan, Bill Haas and 2008 Masters champion Trevor Immelmann are 2 under, and six players, former Masters champion Mike Weir, Robert Karlsson, Dustin Johnson, Matt Kuchar, Sean O'Hair and Kenny Perry, are 1 under.

The fact that Woods holds the most impressive resume with his 14 major championships and four green jackets should be cause for concern to Westwood and Poulter, who are currently ranked No. 4 and No. 7 in the world but are still seeking to win their first major title. But Westwood, who bounced back from a double-bogey 6 on the 14th hole after leading the tournament at 10 under at one point in the second round, didn't seem the least bit concerned that Woods is in his rearview mirror. The fact that Westwood came within one putt of getting into a playoff in the U.S. Open in 2008 and the British Open last year has bolstered his confidence.

"It makes me sort of feel that I can contend in these big events now that my game is up to this level," Westwood said. "All in all, I'm delighted the way things are going."

Poulter, who won the Match Play Championship earlier this season for his first victory in the United States, seems to be enjoying the pressure that comes with leading a major, something he and Westwood are doing now for the first times in their careers.

"There was a lot of talk before this tournament that the English guys are in good form, and they certainly are and we are sitting at the top of the leader board now," Poulter said.

As for that boast about joining Woods atop the world ranking ranking one day?

"If I win this week, I'll probably go to No. 2, which would be lovely," Poulter said. "So I guess it's a work in progress. I'm working towards that. So we'll see."

ESPN analyst and two-time U.S. Open champion Curtis Strange said the final two rounds will come down to "patience and experience," and in that regard he favored the chances of Woods or Mickelson prevailing. Strange also cautioned Kim, who is coming off a victory last week in Houston, that overly aggressive play can come back to "bite you in the butt."

Oldgolfdawg has a feeling one of the Brits will prevail, but he wouldn't bet the ranch on it. Kim, a sassy 24-year-old too young to be afraid of anything, is explosive and could make a move today. Last year in shooting a 62 at Augusta he recorded 11 birdies. Mickelson, meanwhile, is overdue to snap out of his current slump, Choi and Yang aren't likely to fold and then there's always Tiger, who has won the Masters all three times when going into the weekend in a tie for third or better. It should be fun to watch. All the ingredients are there for a memorable finish.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=5071997&categoryid=2630020

Information from ESPN.com, PGATOUR.com and the Associated Press contributed to this post.