India's SSP Chawrasia maintains his spot atop the leaderboard at the Hong Kong Open as he doubled his overnight advantage to two when he carded a second round four-under-par 66 to continue leading the UBS Hong Kong Open on Saturday.

 

 

                                               SSP Chawrasia battled tough weather conditions to maintain the lead 

 

Despite the gusty conditions at the Hong Kong Golf Club, the six-time Asian Tour winner remained unperturbed as he even extended his lead to five at one stage after birdies on holes three, seven, eight, 10 and 13.

 

He said, "It was a great round today.  I was five-under at one time but then three-putted 14. I hit a good tee shot, good second shot to within 10 feet. My first putt went pass the hole by about three feet and I continued to miss from there. But still, it's a good score. I'm happy. I think the greens are very fast here and a little bit windy, of course.  That's why I think the players are struggling. I'm just following my game plan.  Same thing, I'm playing last two days, exactly the same strategy. I don't want to change anything.  I’m feeling more confident today than yesterday."

 

His card was marred by a lone bogey on the par-four 14 and with South Africa’s Thomas Aiken returning with the day’s lowest score of 64 to take second place, the Indian’s lead was eventually cut to two.

 

Thailand’s Poom Saksansin’s two-day total of five-under-par 135 saw him take a share of third place and kept him within sights of Chawrasia as he conquered his nerves to remain in contention for his third Asian Tour victory. 

 

 

 

                                                Poom Sasksansin was tied at third at the Hong Kong Open 2017

 

 

Newly-crowned Asian Tour winner, Micah Lauren Shin of the United States continued his good form by returning with a 69 to be among the front runners in tied-seventh place at the US$2 million event.

 

Tournament drawcards Justin Rose and Sergio Garcia meanwhile kept the galleries happy as their respective 137 and 140 total was enough to see them progress into the weekend rounds.

 

Day 1: India's Chawrasia combats tough windy conditions to lead at the Hong Kong Open