2007 Macau Open - Round 2: Zhang battles into clubhouse lead as weather intterupts

The veteran, triumphant in 2001 and 2002, battled high winds to produce a three-under-par 68 in the second round at the Macau Golf and Country Club and leads with a two-day total of eight-under-par 134.

Australian Richard Moir is nine-under-par in the US$300,000 Asian Tour tournament through 14 holes of his round before a lightning storm forced the suspension of play at 5.30pm. A total of 33 players will return early Saturday to complete their second rounds.

In-form Indian Gaurav Ghei scrambled to a 70 to stay one shot behind Zhang while Malaysian rookie S. Sivachandran fired a second straight 68 for a 136 total, matched by India's Gurbaaz Mann, who improved by 10 shots from his first day's effort with a sizzling bogey-free 63.

Australian Jarrod Moseley and New Zealand's Stephen Scahill are also on 136 after carding 70 and 66 respectively.

With Macau being like a second home to Zhang, the 42-year-old, a five-time winner on the Asian Tour, is feeling confident of winning once more where his last title came in the 2003 Volvo China Open.

He was also especially delighted to finish his round just before the sirens blew for the weather suspension, which meant a few more precious hours in bed on Saturday morning. "That was lucky," smiled Zhang.

"When the winds came in the afternoon, I had to think twice about club selection. It's hard to play with the winds as it is tough to judge the distances. So I am happy with my round today. That was good."

Zhang's form has been on the rise after a top-10 finish in last month's inaugural Pine Valley Beijing Open, which was his first in over a year, and he believes he can finish the job in Macau this weekend.

"I have come here to win my third Macau title. I'm comfortable with my new clubs. Every time I hit the ball, I don't have any hesitation. I have trust in them. I've been waiting for a long time to win again. I want to grab the chance this time," said Zhang, who needs to win US$672 this week to become the 13th player to surpass the US$1 million mark in career earnings on Tour.

Moir, 24, lost his Asian Tour card last season after finishing three rungs too low on the UBS Order of Merit and with limited appearances in the region, he knows he must grab whatever opportunities that come his way.

The Aussie, in only his fifth start this season, birdied four of his opening five holes to charge up the leaderboard and said that a new attitude is paying off. "Pity about the weather but I played very nicely today and yesterday," said Moir.

"Golf is like that, you never know when you're going to play well. All you can do is to keep plugging away. I'm trying a few new things and I like the results so far. I've just taken a whole different attitude on my golf. My main objective is to enjoy myself and it doesn't matter what happens out there."

Ghei, eighth on the UBS Order of Merit, will be looking for a second title in as many months following his triumph in Beijing and he is hoping that the par-71 Macau course will continue to bare its fangs, with swirling winds being its main defence.

"That was a tough day. Every shot was a challenge and the key was to keep the ball in play and give yourself some opportunities," said Ghei. "I knew it was going to be windy. You can't have two absolute calm days over here.

"I'm feeling good about my game. It's going to be fun at the weekend and I hope I can keep playing well. I rather have it windy. When it's that calm, you're putting a lot more players in contention."

China's Liang Wen-chong was frustrated with his bogey-bogey finish in his round of 68, which left him three shots behind Zhang. He bogeyed the notorious 17th from the bunker and found water on the par five 18th.

"It was the worst finish that I've had in a while. The winds were strong and I couldn't shape the ball and made some mistakes. It wasn't the way that I wanted to finish the day," said Liang, who needs to earn over US$4,000 to surpass Anton Haig of South Africa at the top of the UBS Order of Merit.

American Anthony Kang was also at eight under for the tournament with one hole remaining.

The second round will resume at 6.50am on Saturday with the third round beginning no earlier than 9am.

Leading second round scores (click here for full leaderboard):

134 - Zhang Lian-wei (CHN) 66-68

135 - Gaurav Ghei (IND) 65-70

136 - S Sivachandran (MAL) 68-68, Stephen Scahill (NZL) 70-66, Gurbaaz Mann (IND) 73-63, Jarrod Moseley (AUS) 66-70

137 - Tony Lascuna (PHI) 68-69, Chang Tse-peng (TPE) 69-68, Liang Wen-chong (CHN) 69-68, Gavin Flint (AUS) 69-68

138 - Hur In-hoi (KOR) 70-68, Lien Lu-sen (TPE) 71-67, Leigh Mckechnie (AUS) 64-74, Danny Chia (MAS) 68-70, Lee Sung (KOR) 68-70

139 - Chen Yuan-chi (TPE) 71-68, Brad Iles (NZL) 71-68, Craig Smith (WAL) 68-71

140 - Ashley Hall (AUS) 69-71, Lin Chien-bing (TPE) 70-70, Ross Bain (SCO) 69-71, Kao Bo-song (TPE) 69-71, Ben Leong (MAS) 71-69, Peter Karmis (RSA) 68-72, Arjun Singh (IND) 67-73, Mitchell Brown (AUS) 68-72, Tony Carolan (AUS) 69-71, Scott Hend (AUS) 67-73, Wang Ter-chang (TPE) 67-73

May 18, 2007

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