Apr 27, 2018: A resilient Matt Wallace of England signed for a battling two-under-par 70 to seize a one-shot lead at the halfway stage of the prestigious Volvo China Open on Friday.
India’s Gaganjeet Bhullar signed off for par-72 with four birdies and equal number of bogies to settle at T22 after the second round. Other Indian trio Shiv Kapur, Shubhankar Sharma and Arjun Atwal share 35th place with a bunch of other players after scoring three-under-par two day total. Shiva Kapur shot a bogie free round of four-under-par 68 in the second round.
The 28-year-old Wallace, who opened his campaign with a 65, moved atop the leaderboard after closing with a brilliant birdie, thanks to his caddy’s advice to pace himself on the par-five 18th hole, at the Topwin Golf and Country Club.
Wallace traded one birdie against a bogey before soaring with an eagle on the par-five eighth hole for the third consecutive day to turn in 34. He reeled in six straight pars before dropping a shot on 17 which he would eventually gain it back on the last.
“It was tough all day, the wind picked up in the afternoon. Scoring was low this morning so I didn’t really know what the score would have to be to stay up there. I was two-under after eight holes and was just thinking we can get a couple more birdies on the back nine. But the wind just picked up and I could not get it close enough”, said Matt Wallace.
Kim, who enjoyed top-10 finishes in his last two starts on Tour, continued his fine form to sign for a 66, grabbing a share of second place with Australia’s Jason Scrivener and Nacho Elvira of Spain in the CN¥20,000,000 (approx. US$3,178,000) event.
Soomin Lee of Korea reckoned the feel-good factor from his breakthrough win in the Middle Kingdom two years ago has stood in his favour as he put himself in the title mix after carding a 69. He sits two shots off the pace in fifth on 137 alongside three other players.
A total of 69 players made the halfway cut set at one-under-par 143 at the 24th edition of the Volvo China Open, tri-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, European Tour and the China Golf Association.
Overnight leader Daxing Jin of China slipped to tied-22nd position following a disappointing 76. He is amongst the six local players, including Haotong Li and Ashun Wu, to progress into the weekend rounds in their National Open.
Asian Tour Release
