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Day 1

November 13th 2009, Hong Kong: China’s Liang Wen-chong kept his Asian Tour Order of Merit title hopes alive when he returned with a five-under-par 65 to grab a share of the second round lead at the USB Hong Kong Open on Friday.

Liang’s two-day total of nine-under-par 131 meant that he will head into the weekend round as joint-leaders with France’s Gregory Bourdy, South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel and Robert-Jan Derksen of the Netherlands.

Thailand’s Chinnarat Phadungsil posted a 66 to take a share of fifth place with South Africa’s Rory Sabbatini on 132 while morning leaders Danny Chia, Asian Tour’s honorary member, Yang Yong-eun and defending champion Lin Wen-tang are among the mix bunched in seventh place on 133.

The race for the prestigious Asian Tour’s Order of Merit crown is now down to a two-horse race between Liang and Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee. But with Thongchai carding a 71 to slip down to 22nd place, Liang now holds a slender advantage over the Thai.

The Chinese knows that he needs either a second-place finish or a win at this week’s US$2.5 million showpiece to pip Thongchai to the Order of Merit crown and is determined to make that final push towards becoming Asia’s number one again.

“I’m in a good position and I know that the next two days will be crucial. If I continue to play as well as I’ve been doing over the past two days, this will be a very good week for me,” said Liang who was Asia’s number one in 2007.

The Chinese managed to reel in only one birdie on the par-four seventh in his opening front-nine. But his game came alive after turn when he fired four birdies on the 11th, 12th, 17th and 18th to storm home with a blemish-free card.

“I felt a bit cold in the morning. I tried to take it slowly and not get too impatient with my game,” said Liang.

“It was not easy on my front-nine. Luckily I got a birdie on the seventh that got my game going. I’m really happy with my back-nine as I managed to get four birdies,” added the Chinese.

Chinnarat who holds the distinction of being the Asian Tour’s youngest ever winner at 17 years and 5 days, mixed five birdies, three bogeys and an eagle three on the par-five 13th to edge him closer to his second Asian Tour win this season.

“It was a little cold out there but I’m glad I managed to play myself into contention. I’m excited to be playing with the best and doing so well,” said the 21-year-old and three-time Asian Tour winner.

Meanwhile Malaysia’s Danny Chia gave himself a belated birthday present by taking a share of the morning second round lead with Yang.

Starting the day in tied-29th, Chia birdied his third and fourth hole before dropping a shot on the fifth.

He coloured his card in red with another birdie on the eighth before erasing that shot with another bogey on the ninth.

While Chia had a mixed round in his opening front-nine, he cruised home steadily after the turn with a bogey-free back-nine highlighted by three birdies on the 11th, 12th and 13th.

“I hit a lot of fairways these two days and I guess that’s the key when you play in a golf course like this. I’ve holed some good putts as well,” said Chia who is seeking his first win on the Asian Tour since 2002.

Yang showed why he is one of the tournament drawcards when he made his move up the top of the leaderboard with a second round 67 despite the change in weather conditions at the Hong Kong Golf Club.

“The temperature was a surprise to me as I was not expecting this kind of weather in Hong Kong,” said Yang on the morning’s temperature that reached a low of 18 degrees Celsius.

The Korean ace who rose to fame when he became the first Asian to win a Major at the PGA Championship is looking for his first win since that momentous victory in August and is delighted that he now has a chance to do so.

“The most important thing that I’ve achieve this year apart from winning the PGA Championship is that I’ve managed to extend my Tour card on the US PGA Tour for five years,” said Yang.

“I think I can only achieve that goal by playing how I’ve been playing so far and enjoying what I like to do most. I think I’ve a fair chance this weekend. I’ve been playing well since the last round in Shanghai and hopefully I’ll perform well this weekend too,” added the Korean.

The UBS Hong Kong Open is Hong Kong’s oldest professional sporting event, having started in 1959 and will once again be sanctioned by the Asian Tour and European Tour from November 12-15.

The weekend cut was set at two-under-par with a total of 67 players making it into the weekend rounds.