"It is important to hit fairways and I did that well today", said the Dutchman. "That meant I didn't always hit driver and preferred to hit a longer shot in. The greens are firm and downwind it is tough to stop the ball. A few holes you can attack which I did and it worked out well but pars are pretty good and if you can make the odd birdie that is good too."
Darren Clarke is lying second on his own at –4. "The course was very difficult with that breeze and it was tough to get the ball close to the hole, so anything under 70 was a very good score and I am very pleased," said the Ryder Cup player.
Tournament sponsors BMW will be delighted that top draw Greg Norman is performing well. Scores of 71 and 73 demonstrate that the 53-year old Senior is still at the top of his game and quite capable of competing in the full tour.
Other well-known names on par are Henrik Stenson, whose form has been erratic, and India's Jeev Mikha Singh.
As so often happens, last week's maiden winner Damien McGrane of Ireland failed to make the cut, finishing three strokes shy at –6. "I'm disappointed but not downcast", he said. "As you can imagine my preparations for this week were interrupted by last week's success. This is a great course, but the wind is even tougher out there than last week, and I didn't cope with the conditions. Last week I scrambled well, this week I’ve paid for my mistakes."
Nevertheless, McGrane was glad he had made the effort. "It would have been too easy just to call off", he said.
Two who did do well were England's Oliver Wilson and France's Michael Lorenzo-Vera. Both tied for second last week. For a long time Wilson was on the front page of the leaderboard at –3, till a dropped shot at 16 cost him a place, but he is delighted with his current form.
Lorenzo-Vera can hardly be blamed for some serious partying after banking a cheque of over $150,000 in Beijing. It seems that his celebrations cost him two missed flights. But he proved there was no hangover with a great round of 3-under today that leaves him on par and looking set for another good pay day.
Best round of the day came from another of last week's top placemen. Kiwi Mark Brown, currently leading the Asian Tour rankings, came home in 67 to leave him joint sixth at 2 under. Starting on 10, Mark dropped two shots in his first four holes, but a run of seven birdies in the next eight holes – fabulous play in the conditions – brought him right back into contention.
A quiet word to the course marshals: the 18th green and the 16th tee are very close together, and there should be quiet boards applied to both sets of spectators for both areas of play. Particularly on Saturday and Sunday, it is important that players putting out on the final green are not disturbed by justifiable applause for a good tee shot on the very narrow 16th.
The final word has to go to Zhang Lianwei. In the last big tournament in China before the Olympics, Zhang was asked if the Chinese players at the top of the board could deliver a gold, silver and bronze finish for China on Sunday evening.
"We'll do our best", he replied with a laugh.
Shot of the day:
With half a helping hand from a cross wind, Ted Oh of Korea hammered a drive miles past his partners on the 440-yard par-4 6th that almost caught up with the group ahead as they made their way to the green. It left him with a chip of well under 100 yards to the pin. If he had been able to repeat the feat on the 388-yard 7th he might have reached the green.
(David Ferguson for China.org.cn April 26, 2008)
