SCOT IS 15 STROKES BEHIND HSBC LEADER AT HALFWAY

KARRIE WEBB LEADS AT HALFWAY IN  SINGAPORE BUT CATRIONA HAS A 77 FROM THE HSBC WOMEN'S CHAMPIONS WEBSITE "Two old ducks, I guess," said the 39-year-old Karrie Webb, a tad irreverently, of herself and the 36-year-old Angela Stanford who is chasing her at the half-way stage of the HSBC Women's Champions over Singapore's Serapong course.

Webb (pictured) followed her opening 66 with a 69, while Stanford  has similarly handed in two scores in the 60s -a 68 and a 69. Both have won the HSBC Women's Champions before, with Webb  coming out on top in 2011 and Stanford claiming the title in 2012.  No-one should read too much into the fact that their titles were over  the Tanah Merah course rather than Serapong, the reason being that  both of the leaders set as much store in being comfortable with where  they are staying as where they are playing.  "I play well in Singapore because I enjoy coming to Singapore," said   Webb. "Generally, if you feel good about a place, you play well." Stanford, for her part, said that being in a good hotel - in this case the Fairmont - and staying in a comfortable bed are as much as 40% of the equation for her.  "In the States, you can control your environment to a certain extent but. here, HSBC do it for us. It means that you can play golf with peace of mind." One of the "old ducks", namely Webb, paid a visit to the water at the  15th. She had already dropped one shot at the 13th, an unlucky hole  for plenty of players yesterday, and, after pinning down a par at the 14th, she hit what was appropriately a duck-hook into the middle of the  pond. By way of making up for the two mishaps, the Hall of Famer followed  up with a good par at the 16th before paving the way for a birdie at the 17th with a vintage iron. "It almost felt as if we were playing in the last group on a Sunday," said Webb of her last start-time of the day. "When I made my mistakes, I had to remind myself, 'It's still only Friday'." Seventh on the world rankings going into this week, Webb is not thinking that that she has to get back to the No 1 spot she has occupied before: "I'll just focus on playing good golf and wherever it takes me it takes me."  The reason for her level-headed approach is that she no longer allows herself to be consumed by the game as she was 15 years ago. "I achieved some amazing things when I was concentrating on golf and golf alone but I couldn't be like that today." Teresa Lu, on six under par, has third place to herself going into the third round, while Morgan Pressel, Danielle Kang, Caroline Hedwall and Anna Nordqvist are all lurking on four under. SCOTSWATCH. When last did Catriona Matthew have back-to-back double-bogey 6s? Years ago, probably. Well she had them in her  round of five-over-par 77 today. The Scot bogeyed the long fourth but birdied the sixth to turn in level par 36.  That was the high point. She bogeyed the 13th before running up her first double bogey 6 at the 15th and then repeated the dose at the 16th for 41 home. Catriona is on 150, 15 shots behind halfway leader Karrie Webb. Still, there's no cut in this tournament and Matthew had a superb final 36 holes in Thailand last week to finish up third in the  tournament. HALFWAY LEADERBOARD Par 144 (2x72) Players from USA unless stated 135 Karrie Webb (Australia) 66 69 137 Angela Stanford 68 69 138 Teresa Lui (Taipei) 68 70 140 Anna Nordqvist (Norway) 73 67, Danielle Kang 70 70, Caroline Hedwall (Sweden) 67 73 Morgan Pressel 71 69, Paula Creamer 67 73 SELECTED SCORES 141 Azahara Munoz (Spain) 69 72, Suzann Pettersen (Norway) 71 70 (T9) 150 Catriona Matthew (Scotland) 73 77 (T52) 152 Jodi Ewart Shadoff (Englanbd) 77 75 (57th) Field of 63 players.