2006 China Tour Zhuhai Leg - Round 2: Much suffering in Zhuhai

No player got under par and more than half of the players who survived the day shot in the 80s as the Golden Gulf's "potato crisp" greens bemused China's finest.

Yuan was on his way to a two-over par 74 that maintained the three-shot gap between him and the leader Li Chao. Jimmy Qi Zengfa moved into third, finishing early and unhappily, unaware that he was carding the day's best score, a 73 that was matched only by Gu Cuilin.

"It was windy, hot and the pin positions were tough," said Zhang Lianwei, who moved up from 11th to fourth despite a two-over-par round.

"The pin positions were really difficult. The 17th was one of the few that was easier, but me¡ bogey!" he added with a smile and a shrug of resignation.

A 180-degree change in wind direction served to add to the players' bafflement that can be best likened to that suffered by most of the field each year at the US Masters. Li Chao threatened early with two birdies but a double-bogey on the short par-5 7th forced him to switch to a more conservative game plan.

"It was windy, so I was playing safe especially on the back nine. I was just hoping to stop my score getting worse," he revealed.

"I started early in the first round and there wasn't that much wind. The wind was much stronger this time. It was really challenging, especially for the approach shots. Putting was a really big challenge too. However this is what makes us professionals. We cannot complain too much, pros have to face all different kind of difficult conditions, and all we can do is to try our best to survive."

With his three-shot lead still intact and the bunch behind him thinned out, Li was one of the few with little cause to complain. Richard Qiu Zhifeng, who started the day with a share of second place, slipped back to sixth with a seven-over-par 79 and could have moaned about his putting until the cows came home.

"I had five three-putts, no birdies, five bogeys and a double-bogey! On the par-five 7th and 11th I was on in two, but three-putted!" he said, still smiling despite himself.

"The whole course set-up is really close to the European Tour - very high quality. Although it's very challenging, this is how it should be. It lets all the players know the difference in the set-up from one level to another. I like it. I like a difficult course. I don't like my score, but I like the set-up."

Another player who suffered with the shortest stick in his bag was Wu Weihuang. One over par and four shots off the lead after the first round, he counted nine makable short putts that went begging as he struggled to a 78 and a share of sixth place.

That the field should suffer to such an extent should not come as a complete surprise so early in the development of Chinese professional game. The first modern course is still only 20 years old and this time last year the players had only one tournament to look forward to, until the China Tour's rapid conception and birth. As a result many, such as second-placed Yuan Hao, who is arguably one of the most promising young professionals are still not able to focus 100 per cent on tournament play. The 26-yeard-old from Guangdong is in a particularly difficult situation because he has not been able to secure the patronage of a golf club, which is one of the main avenues of financial support open to the players.

"Of course I wish I could have a club to support me so I can concentrate on my game, but now, unfortunately we still have to earn our living by coaching or by other means," he explained. "I spend all my prize money on going to other tournaments. It is still difficult, I earned RMB22,000 at the Hainan leg, but it's not enough for me to pay for playing in the Volvo China Open and the BMW Asian Open. For every tournament the cost is about RMB7,000. So you see it's not enough.

"I want to play as many tournaments as possible, like the Asian Tour and Japan Tour, but I cannot afford all these yet. If I can get sponsorship to help to pay for all the costs, I would love to go."

With two rounds to go, Yuan has the chance of a RMB150,000 win and the publicity that would surely attract much-needed sponsorship, provided he can avoid the inconsistency that has been a feature of the first two years of his professional career.

Omega China Tour Zhuhai Leg

Leading Second Round scores (Par 72)

143: Li Chao 69-74
146: Yuan Hao 72-74

147: Qi Zengfa 74-73149 Liu Jian 74-75, Zhang Lianwei 75-74
151: Qiu Zhifeng 72-79, Wu Weihuang 73-78, Yuan Zheng 74-77, Zhou Xunshu 76-75,
152: Liu Xin 76-76, Shang Lei 74-78
153: Gu Haoran 80-73, Lai Yuanlang 76-77, Liu Qiang 75-78,
154: Wu Ashun (A) 76-78, Xiao Zhijin 75-79
155: Chen Jian 74-81, Feng Xu 78-77, Huang Yonghuan 79-76, Tan Yongzong 75-80, Zheng Shaoguang 77-78

May 12, 2006

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