HONG KONG—South African, Ernie Els followed up his Hong Kong Open first round score of 4-under par (66) on Friday Oct 17 with a 65 in the second round to move into the lead the at the Fanling course on 131. Fine, sunny autumn weather gave golfers an opportunity to post good scores and many of the competitors did just that with a number logging -5 and -4 under par on the day.
Raphael Jacquelin of France (66, 67), and Australians Scott Hend (67, 66) and Cameron Smith (68, 65) hold equal second place on 133. Eight players are on 134, nine are on 135 and ten are on 136 showing great promise for a close contest over the weekend. The provisional cut is set at -1.
SSP Chawrasia of India and Richard Bland of England also produced 5-under par rounds to put them on 134 and 135 respectively. Leading scorer of the day was Paul Waring of England who recorded a 6-under par 64 to move him to -3 and on 137 overall after a recording 73 in round-1.
Angelo Que holding -5 overnight moved up to -8 on the 50th hole (14th of the day) but then dropped shots at the 15th and 18th to bring him back to -6 (134).
Overnight leader Joti Randhawi of India finished with a par 70 round today dropping him down the order with a total of 134 but he is still only 3-shots adrift of Els.
The biggest disappointment of the day was losing the four times winner of the tournament Miguel Angel Jimenez who could only post a par 70 round to add to his +2 finish on day one and was unable to make the cut. He has been fighting a stomach disorder which seems to have affected his normal steadfast play. He did chip in for an eagle-3 on the par 13th but was unable to capitalize on this feat. Hi round included 5-bogies, 3-birdies and an eagle.
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