2009 China Tour Dell Championship - Round 2: Wu Weihuang extends lead with Wu Ashun in pursuit

Wu Weihuang fired a five-under-par 67 to go 11-under and four clear of fellow Fujian favourite Alex Wu Ashun (68) after the second round of the RMB1 million Dell Championship in Xiamen, the opening event of the Omega China Tour’s fifth season.

Chinese Taipei star Lin Keng-chi, the 1995 Asian Tour Order of Merit winner, birdied the final hole for a 69 to share third place on five-under with Kong Weihai (69), fifth in last year’s Dell Championship, and 18-year-old Korean Tour rookie Eom Jae-woong (70).

Li Chao and Zhang Lianwei, champion and runner-up last year, are lurking on three-under after shooting 69 and 70 respectively.

Wu Weihuang, a former martial arts champion who only took up golf in his late 20s, is gunning for his first Omega China Tour title after 14 top-10 finishes in the 26 previous events, which included a fourth in last year’s Dell Championship.

“I won’t put any more any pressure on myself on Saturday, even though I’m the leader. I’ll just play my usual game,” said the 40-year-old, the first-round leader with a 66

Wu curled in a 20-footer on his last hole, the ninth, for his sixth birdie of the day and it would have been seven but for an 18-inch birdie putt on hole seven that lipped out. However, he was most proud of the fact he only had one bogey, on the par-three 16th.

“I’m really happy with the way I’ve played these two days, especially because I’ve only had one bogey in 36 holes,” he said.

“I think there will be a lot of local support for myself and Ashun this weekend, as we’re both from Fujian. He’s a good player, although I’ve never played with him before, just heard about his results on the Omega China Tour and the Asian Tour.”

Wu Ashun, 23, has returned to his domestic circuit after a great start to this year’s Asian Tour, where he has finished tied for seventh and fourth in his last two events. The fast-rising talent also teed off on 10 and was one-over after nine holes, but came back in 31, shooting five birdies on the easier front nine for the second successive day.

“It just didn’t click on my first nine holes, but my iron play was much better on my second nine and I gave myself a lot of birdie opportunities,” said Wu, who’s also looking for his first win on the circuit after four top-10 and four top-20 finishes in nine events.

“Mr Wu and I have the same family name and I’m really looking forward to playing with him. We both want to play well for our fans here in Fujian province.”

Lin, who has split his career between the Asian Tour and Japan, was happy with his progress on his Omega China Tour debut.

“It got really windy in the afternoon, especially when I was on the back nine, so I’m happy to birdie the last and finish three-under,” said the 43-year-old, known as ‘Lin the Pin’.

The strong wind contributed to a disappointing finish for American C.J. Gatto, who dropped four shots on the last four holes to finish with a 72. The Shenzhen-based 23-year-old, winner of last month’s Qualifying School, shares eighth place with Chen Xiaoma (72) and former Asian Tour player Shang Lei (71).

Liao Guiming, the reigning Omega Order of Merit champion, shot 71 to go one-under and share 11th with Chinese Taipei’s Lu Wen-teh (73).

“I’m also from Fujian originally, so I’d be really happy if either Wu Weihuang or Wu Ashun was to win this weekend,” said the 31-year-old Liao, who was born near Fuzhou, the capital of Fujian province.

Singaporean Derek Goh Kun Yang matched Wu’s best-of-the-day 67 to better his first-day score by 10 shots and tie for 13th place on level-par.

“I had been having trouble with my swing for the past couple of days so I called my friend in Thailand after the first round and he worked out what the problem was,” said Goh, 20. “I’m really happy as it was a great comeback. Now, I’d like to finish the weekend under par.”

Goh was tied for 13th with former European Tour player Max Kellner (72), Omega Championship winner Zhou Jun and 19-year-old James Su Dong, the latter pair each falling back with a 75.

Local schoolboy Wu Jianlong, the 17-year-old son of Wu Weihuang, missed the cut by two shots after a 75, an impressive performance by the three-handicapper who was playing in a professional tournament for the first time at the invitation of the host venue.

This year’s champion will walk away with a cheque for RMB180,000 and a new Dell Latitude XT2 tablet PC, an upgrade of the XT version presented to Li Chao last year.

Dell will also present the runner-up with a Latitude E4200 notebook and the third-placed finisher with a Latitude E4300, and award a Latitude E4200 to the first player to record a hole-in-one during the tournament.

Dell Championship, Omega China Tour - Leading second-round scores (Chinese unless stated):
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133 – Wu Weihuang 66-67
137 – Alex Wu Ashun 69-68
139 – Eom Jae-woong (KOR) 69-70, Lin Keng-chi (TPE) 70-69, Kong Weihai 70-69
141 – Li Chao 72-69, Zhang Lianwei 71-70
142 – Chen Xiaoma 70-72, Shang Lei 71-71, C.J. Gatto (USA) 70-72
143 – Liao Guiming 72-71, Lu Wen-teh (TPE) 70-73
144 – Max Kellner (GER) 72-72, Derek Goh Kun Yang (SIN) 77-67, Zhou Jun 69-75, James Su Dong 69-75
145 – Liu Anda 71-74, Jason Robertson (RSA) 71-74, Yang Shengqin 73-72, Hao Chunxi 73-72

Selected scores:

147 – Wittawat Sae-ung (THA) 71-76
149 – Lee Joung-wook (KOR) 75-74, James Stewart (HKG) 75-74, Nick Redfern (ENG) 76-73, Han Ren [A] 75-74
150 – Jim Johnson (USA) 71-79
151 – Wong Woon-man (HKG) 74-77, Yuan Hao 77-74

Missed cut:

152 – Passamet Pokamnerd (THA) 78-74
153 – Wu Jianlong [A] 78-75, Kelvin Jones (NZL) 75-78
154 – Felix Casas (PHI) 80-74, Huang Mingjie 79-75
155 – Kevin Chen (USA) 80-75

March 20, 2009

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