2008 China Tour Guangzhou Championship - Round 2: Chan stays one ahead of compatriot Hsu

The Chinese Taipei duo of Chan Yihshin and Hsu Mongnan continued their new-found love affair with the Omega China Tour and will play together on Saturday after heading the leaderboard at the halfway stage of the US$100,000 Guangzhou Championship.

Chan, who led by three strokes on the first day after a five-under-par 67, held on to the outright lead on three-under-par 141 following a 74, which included a double-bogey on the par-four fifth.

Hsu could have drawn level with his compatriot but narrowly missed his six-foot putt for par on the 18th to post a 72 and finish one stroke off the pace.

Defending champion Zhang Lianwei lurks ominously in third place after a second successive 72 at the Dragon Lake Golf Club, venue for the 2010 Asian Games golf event.

Chan and Hsu are making their debut on the Omega China Tour. Both are special invites from Chinese Taipei and are making the most of their opportunity.

"I'm really enjoying playing on the Omega China Tour and am looking forward to playing with my good friend on Saturday," said Chan, 30, who admitted that he ultimately wanted to play in Europe and the US.

The easy-swinging Hsu, who finished third in last year's Mercuries Taiwan Masters on the Asian Tour, continued his steady progress.

"I played very carefully out there. My priority was to not make a mistake," said Hsu, who groaned audibly after missing his par-putt on 18, but followed through with a smile.

"After the front nine, I had the outright lead, but I tried to just play steady golf and focus on my game, stroke by stroke."

Both players look to have a good chance of becoming the Tour's first non-mainland winner. However, they were both aware of the large presence of Zhang in third place.

"Zhang Lianwei is a good player, but I'll be focusing on my game," Chan said.

Zhang, a native of Guangdong province, remained quietly confident, despite not yet showing the form that earned him last year's title with a score of nine-under-par.

"Even though I shot even-par for the first two rounds, I still think I'm in quite a good position," said Zhang, whose victory in Guangzhou last year was his first win in front of his mother.

Zhang played a paternal role during the second round when he helped out playing partner Chen Xiaoma, the Tour's Most Improved Player last year.

After Chen struck a wayward tee-shot on the par-five eighth, Zhang was determined that the pair find the ball, climbing up a steep bank into the bushes and eventually finding it.

"I told him he wasn't going to find his ball on the fairway and said I'd help him find it," Zhang said.

"Sometimes younger players get nervous after bad shots, and then tee-off again too quickly, so I told him we should use the allotted time to find the ball. I was happy to find it, but was pretty tired after all that climbing."

Li Chao, Omega Order of Merit winner in 2005 and 2007, followed his disappointing first-day 78 with a 72, and that was only after three birdies on the back nine. He lies in joint-22nd place, nine strokes off the lead.

Click here for second round leaderboard

March 14, 2008