Volvo China Open winner Scott Strange is well-placed at six-under. [China.org.cn]

The others are two stalwarts of the Asian Tour, Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand and none other than the current holder of the Volvo China Open title, Scott Strange of Australia.

"This is probably the best weather I've seen all year," said Scott. It's a great course in good conditions. I was hitting well, keeping the ball in play, and giving myself birdie chances. I made a couple of birdies from distance, and a combination of all of the above is always going to give you a good score."

Among the early afternoon starters, home favourite Jean van de Velde was quickly into his stride, starting with a run of three birdies and adding another on the 6th. A fifth birdie on 8 took him to five-under, and he must have been licking his lips as he stood on the tee at the very-birdiable par-5 ninth. Another stroke there would have had him at six-under for the front nine alone, and in with a shout of the lead.

He laid up sensibly, but then pulled his approach well to the right of the green. A poor chip left him with a long putt that he couldn't hole, and a shot was dropped that must have felt like two. All the more galling, given that both his playing partners made birdie.

Perhaps it was the thought of Paul Lawrie, his nemesis from the 1999 Open, playing in the group behind him that disturbed his concentration. Lawrie just missed the green in two but was able to birdie and join Van de Velde on four-under.

Current Open Champion Padraig Harrington is worried about his form. [China.org.cn]

Several other afternoon starters had reached this score by the turn. Among them were Francesco Molinari and Robert-Jan Derksen.

There were some good players out there – one particular group featuring two Major winners in Spain's Jose-Maria Olazabal and current Masters Champion Angel Cabrera of Argentina, joined by one of England's top golfers, Lee Westwood. Strangely, all struggled to press home the advantage on their second nines, with the result that the top of the leaderboard was left at the end of the day looking exactly as it had done at the end of the morning. The exception was Peter Hanson of Sweden, who had joined the group on six-under by the 16th, and went on to finish on that number.

To the disappointment of the sponsors, John Daly was forced to retire with a bad back. His case could hardly have been helped by the number of times he found himself in the thick stuff – the force of playing several shots from heavy rough must have taken its toll, and he was eight-over and well to the rear of the field when he was forced to call it a day.

Big names who look like they might miss the cut include Ian Poulter, Paul McGinley, Graeme McDowell, Jose Maria Olazabal, Michael Campbell, and Angel Cabrera – three major winners among that group. And critically, they are joined by current Open Champion Padraig Harrington. With only two weeks to go till the big one kicks off, Harrington is seriously worried about his current lack of form, and he will start the second day in joint 85th place at one-over.

(China.org.cn July 3, 2009)