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Day 1

September 11th 2009, Macau: Chinese Taipei’s Lin Wen-hong recovered from an early bogey to take the clubhouse lead after the second round of the US$500,000 Macau Open was suspended due to darkness on Friday.

Lin fired five birdies en route to a four-under-par 67 for a two-day total of seven-under-par 135 to take a one-stroke lead over Angelo Que of Philippines who returned with a 68 at the par-71 Macau Golf & Country Club.

Flamboyant Jean Van De Velde of France, playing on a sponsors’ invite at the full field Asian Tour event, stayed in touch with Lin on 137 alongside Chinese Taipei’s Lu Wen-teh. Korea’s Young Nam is a further shot back after posting a 69 for a 138 total.

Australia’s Andrew Dodt is currently in tied second position on six-under after 12 holes while 10-time Asian Tour winner Thaworn Wiratchant of Thailand and Chinese hopeful Wu Ashun lie in tied fourth place on one under and three under respectively also after 12 holes.

Inclement weather forced two play suspensions during the day with the first at 9.05am and the second at 1.45pm.

The stoppage of play however, did not perturb the unheralded Lin who sank five birdies on the second, eighth, 11th, 13th and 18th holes.

“Like the Chinese saying, water means fortune and when the rain came down, I started to make birdies! You tend to focus more especially when playing in such wet and windy conditions and I guess that extra focus played a part in my good score today,” said the 30-year-old who is seeking his maiden win on the Asian Tour.

Lin credited his elder brother Lin Wen-tang, a four-time Asian Tour winner, for his good play as he looks to him for inspiration and advice.

“My elder brother has always been a good influence and source of motivation for me. I look up to him as he’s really a dedicated professional and like him, I hope to win a title on the Asian Tour too,” said Lin.

Que, who started on the back nine, managed to find only four fairways but he wielded a hot putter as he sank two 30 feet putts on the fourth and 14th holes.

“The one hour rest helped my game because I didn’t sleep too well. The sun was out when we started and it got things going. My main goal right now is to try and get in the WGC-HSBC Champions. If I win this week then I am good but if not, I aim to finish at least in the top three so as to improve my position on the Asian Tour,” said Que, who is currently lying in 10th place on the Asian Tour Order of Merit.

Van De Velde started his round brilliantly with four consecutive birdies starting from the second hole only to drop two shots on the 10th and 14th holes before sinking a magical eagle three on the 18th hole after his approach shot landed 15 feet behind the green.

“The rain was really pouring down and it was really difficult to control my ball and was struggling to hit it straight. It was really blowing and raining hard and I think it disrupted everybody’s game. I was more consistent with my putting compared to yesterday where I missed easy putts so that’s what really kept me going,” said the Frenchman, a two-time winner in Europe.

A total of 48 players are set to resume their round on Saturday morning when play continues at 7.00am local time.