2006 China Tour Guangzhou Championship - Round 3: Zhang overhauls Chan and Hsu and leads by two

Zhang Lianwei blasted his way into the third-round lead of the US$100,000 Guangzhou Championship, shooting a four-under-par 68 for a three-round aggregate of 212.

The defending champion finished two shots clear of overnight leader Chan Yihshin and four ahead of Hsu Mongnan, both making their debut on the Omega China Tour as the tournament's two invites from Chinese Taipei.

After 15 holes, Zhang was seven-under for the day and looked set to beat Chan's course record of 67 set in the opening round at the Dragon Lake Golf Club, venue for the 2010 Asian Games golf event.

However, three bogeys in the last three holes saw the 42-year-old drop back to within reach of Chan, who shot a 73, and Hsu, who carded a 74.

Despite the stakes, the trio shared a host of jokes and laughs in the post-round press conference, and will play together again on Sunday.

"I really love playing with these guys," said the Zhuhai-born, Shenzhen-based Zhang, who won last year's title with a score of nine-under-par.

"I was set for a really good round, but I was put off by some noise from buggies around the 16th green and the tee at the 17th, so I lost my rhythm," added Zhang, who put his tee-shots at the last two holes into bunkers.

Zhang's round was lit up by a curling 40-foot birdie putt from off the green at the par-three third and an eagle at the par-five 14th, where he hit a five-wood second shot to 10 feet from the flag.

Chan had led by three strokes after the opening round and by one from Hsu at the halfway stage, creating talk of the possibility of the Omega China Tour's first non-mainland winner.

However, the pair both felt the full force of Zhang's power and class, as China's most famous player found the form he had only hinted at in his even-par opening rounds.

"From the first hole, Zhang attacked non-stop and it wasn't easy to handle that," admitted Chan, a two-time winner on his domestic circuit last year.

"It was like he was biting us hole after hole," added the stocky 30-year-old to big laughs from the large media contingent. "We hung in and are still in with a chance, although we know he'll attack again on Sunday."

Hsu, who finished third in last year's Mercuries Taiwan Masters on the Asian Tour, also shared in the jovial atmosphere after the round, but admitted he was disappointed with his own score.

"Today, things didn't go my way and I was especially annoyed to miss a four-foot putt for par on the 18th," said Hsu, 34, who had also missed a makeable par-putt on the same green the previous day.

Li Chao, Omega Order of Merit winner in 2005 and 2007, continued his remarkable recovery with a 68, despite two bogeys in the last four holes.

His score was a full 10 strokes better than his opening-day effort and put him in joint-fourth place at two-over-par, six strokes off the pace.

"This is a new year for me with a new sponsor (Mizuno), so there was some pressure at first. My putting, especially, was off in the opening round," said Li, 27.

"However, after I made the cut yesterday, I felt much better and my game was back to normal today."

The Beijing star acknowledged the presence of some new foreign players had helped raise the standard of play. "This is the strongest field on the Tour so far, and more competition will help all of the players grow up quickly," he said.

The Guangzhou Championship is the opening event on this year's Omega China Tour, which features 10 events and total prize money of US$1.1 million.

The next event is the Dell Championship at the Orient (Xiamen) Golf and Country Club from March 27-30.

Click here for third round leaderboard

March 15, 2008