DUBAI, Feb 1, 2013 (AFP) - Sterne, who was one shy of the 19-year-old course record at the Majlis course of Emirates Golf Club on Thursday with a 62, added a two-under par 70 round in decidedly tougher playing conditions to move to 12-under par 132 total at the halfway stage of the tournament.
That kept him one ahead of England's Tommy Fleetwood (68), Denmark's Thorbjorn Olesen (66) and Scotland's Stephen Gallacher (70), while Germany's Maximilian Kieffer (68), Dane Andreas Harto (67) and Scotland's Chris Doak (69) were tied for fifth at 10-under par 134.
Spain's world No.14 Sergio Garcia almost pulled out of the tournament after a few holes with a shoulder injury, but recovered well with on-course treatment and shot a five-under par 67 to be tied eighth at 135 alongside Frenchman Romain Wattel and India's Jeev Milkha Singh (both 67).
World No.8 Lee Westwood, the highest ranked player in the tournament, could not replicate the success of his horse Rerouted, who won his race on Thursday night at Meydan Racing Carnival.
The Englishman made a double bogey on his 17th hole and finished at one-under par 71 for a six-under par total.
Defending champion Rafael Cabrera-Bello added a second successive 69 to be tied 26th alongside Westwood at 138.
The 31-year-old Sterne, currently ranked 165th in the world, has five European Tour wins against his name, but the last one came way back in the beginning of 2009 after which he struggled for almost two seasons with a back injury.
Fully fit now, Sterne is looking for his sixth European Tour win come Sunday, but is aware he has a lot of work to do over the next two days.
"It was a pretty consistent round. The course was a lot tougher today with the wind and the greens definitely firmed out a bit. I think it's going to be quite tricky coming to the weekend.
"There's a lot of guys bunched up and you're going to have to play pretty well on the weekend to be there on Sunday," said Sterne.
Olesen, who continues his remarkable rise up the world rankings - he is No.43 within just two years of playing on the European Tour - said he would be happy if the conditions remain tough and windy over the next two days.
"It's nice... I like to keep the ball low. It's good for me when it's windy. It was actually windy the whole day from the morning and I hope it remains like this," said the 23-year-old, whose 66 was the joint best round of the day.
"I played more solidly definitely. I rolled the putts really nicely the first two days, and that's why I'm 11-under. It was more solid today and I struck the irons a lot better today."
Leading second-round scores in the Dubai Desert Classic European PGA Tour tournament on Friday at the par-72 Majlis course of Emirates Golf Club:
132 - Richard Sterne (RSA) 62-70
133 - Thorbjorn Olesen (DEN) 67-66, Tommy Fleetwood (ENG) 65-68, Stephen Gallacher (SCO) 63-70
134 - Chris Doak (SCO) 65-69, Maximilian Kieffer (GER) 66-68, Andreas Harto (DEN) 67-67
135 - Romain Wattel (FRA) 68-67, Jeev Milkha Singh (IND) 68-67, Sergio Garcia (ESP) 68-67
136 - Andy Sullivan (ENG) 69-67, Jbe Kruger (RSA) 70-66, Peter Lawrie (IRL) 66-70, Felipe Aguilar (CHI) 68-68, Thongchai Jaidee (THA) 68-68, Chris Wood (ENG) 68-68, Marcus Fraser (AUS) 67-69, Paul Casey (ENG) 66-70, Gareth Maybin (NIR) 69-67
137 - Gregory Havret (FRA) 70-67, Jose Maria Olazabal (ESP) 70-67, Ignacio Garrido (ESP) 69-68, Matteo Manassero (ITA) 66-71, Scott Jamieson (SCO) 65-72, Ricardo Santos (POR) 66-71
138 - Todd Hamilton (USA) 70-68, Eddie Pepperell (ENG) 68-70, Henrik Stenson (SWE) 69-69, Rafael Cabrera-Bello (ESP) 69-69, Gregory Bourdy (FRA) 67-71, Gary Lockerbie (ENG) 68-70, Steve Webster (ENG) 69-69, Noh Seung-Yul (KOR) 66-72, Raphael Jacquelin (FRA) 70-68, Thomas Levet (FRA) 68-70, Justin Walters (RSA) 68-70, Lee Westwood (ENG) 67-71, Fredrik Andersson-Hed (SWE) 67-71, David Howell (ENG) 70-68, Robert Rock (ENG) 70-68, Matthew Nixon (ENG) 69-69
139 - Marc Warren (SCO) 67-72, Alexander Noren (SWE) 68-71, David Drysdale (SCO) 69-70, Keith Horne (RSA) 68-71, Lorenzo Gagli (ITA) 68-71, Craig Lee (SCO) 69-70, Lee Slattery (ENG) 69-70, Bernd Wiesberger (AUT) 71-68, SSP Chowrasia (IND) 69-70
140 - Anthony Wall (ENG) 68-72, Robert-Jan Derksen (NED) 68-72, Marcel Siem (GER) 68-72, Jean-Baptise Gonnet (FRA) 72-68, Jamie Donaldson (WAL) 67-73, Marten Lafeber (NED) 69-71, Damien McGrane (IRL) 68-72, Jorge Campillo (ESP) 69-71, Jaco van Zyl (RSA) 69-71
141 - Simon Dyson (ENG) 70-71, Pablo Larrazabal (ESP) 71-70, Simon Khan (ENG) 68-73, Ricardo Gozalez (ARG) 71-70, Mikko Ilonen (FIN) 71-70, Alessandro Tadini (ITA) 70-71 Robert Coles (ENG) 73-68, Mark O'Meara (USA) 67-74, Oliver Fisher (ENG) 69-72, Tom Lewis (ENG) 69-72, Garth Mulroy (RSA) 71-70, David Horsey (ENG) 75-66