Quartet leads Hong Kong Open
Hong Kong (Sports Network) - Charl Schwartzel, Robert-Jan Derksen, Wen-Chong Liang and Gregory Bourdy are knotted atop the leaderboard after Friday's second round of the Hong Kong Open.
Schwartzel (66), Derksen (68), Liang (65) and Bourdy (67) are tied at nine- under-par 131 at Hong Kong Golf Club and are one shot clear at the midway point.
Rory Sabbatini posted a three-under 67 on Friday and shares fifth place with Chinarat Phadungsil, who had a four-under 66 in round two, at eight-under-par 132.
Cool temperatures greeted the players Friday morning and it shocked some in the field.
"I started with my jumper on, but the weather turned out to be nice on the back nine," said Schwartzel. "Today, the afternoon field had much better weather." Schwartzel started poorly with a bogey at the first, but got that one back thanks to his second birdie of the week at the par-five third. He parred his last six on the front nine, but caught fire on the back.
The South African birdied three of his first four holes on the second side to reach eight-under for the championship. Schwartzel birdied No. 16 to join the lead and he was happy to even be in that position.
"It ended up being a solid round," said Schwartzel. "After my start, I thought I was falling a quite a bit behind. I would've thought some of the guys would shoot something a bit lower." Derksen appeared to be the man going lower.
He started on the 10th tee Friday, but double-bogeyed the 11th after hitting it out of bounds. Derksen rattled off three consecutive birdies from the 13th and made the turn at one-under on his round.
Derksen tallied back-to-back birdies at two and three and was alone in the lead at minus-10.
He got it to 11-under par with a birdie at seven, but two bogeys to close his round cost him sole possession of the lead.
"Nine is very tough," said Derksen.
"Finishing with a bogey there isn't too bad." Liang had the only flawless round of the four leaders with five birdies and no bogeys.
He played in a high-profile group with Rory McIlroy and Ian Poulter and some overzealous fans managed to distract the group with some ill-timed camera work.
"The atmosphere was very good but we were distracted by some of them taking photos when we were playing," said Liang. "Of course we need the fans to come out here to support us but we ourselves need to focus on our game too. We want to play well to return our fans support but we also hope that they can allow us to stay focus in return." Bourdy was the last of the group to get his share of the lead and he could've held it alone.
After six birdies and a double-bogey, Bourdy was in first at 10-under par, but a bogey at 18 dropped him into a share.
PGA Champion Y.E. Yang (67), defending champion Wen-tang Lin (69), Danny Chia (66), David Dixon (69) and Scott Strange (65) are knotted in seventh at minus- seven.
First-round leader Udorn Duangdecha struggled to a four-over 74 and fell into a tie for 34th at four-under 136.
Next week ends the Race to Dubai and leader Lee Westwood shot an even-par 70 and is part of that group tied with Duangdecha. McIlroy is second and carded a two-under 68 for a piece of 12th at minus-six.
The 36-hole cut fell at two-under 138 and Robert Karlsson, Niclas Fasth, Mark O'Meara, Oliver Wilson, Danny Lee and Shane Lowry all missed the weekend.
11/13 05:31:50 ET
