Justin Rose moves in to a one-shot lead at the Hong Kong Open
Saturday 24 October 2015 13:11, UK
Pre-tournament favourite Justin Rose shrugged off a sore hip to post a second round 66 and take a one-shot lead in to the weekend at the Hong Kong Open.
Rose, the highest ranked player in this week's field, followed on from his bogey-free 65 with another strong display to claim the halfway lead ahead of nearest challenger Lucas Bjerregaard in Fanling.
Beginning at the 11th hole, Rose followed gains at the 14th and the 18th with back-to-back birdies from the third, before following his first dropped shot of the week at the ninth by picking up another stroke at the last.
"I'm very happy with that," Rose said. "I felt like I struggled with the recovery overnight. I just felt like my body was sore this morning and today was definitely more of a struggle than yesterday.
"I made a few more mistakes today but salvaged par well quite a few times. I'll continue to try and keep playing good golf, making some birdies and trying to move forward.
"I hit a lot of good putts today and my putts that aren't going in are threatening the cup, which for me is a good sign.
"Obviously I'm in a wonderful position going into the weekend. This course gave me some trouble last time I played it, so it was nice to figure out more of a decent game plan, which has paid off so far."
The world No 7 had briefly been joined at the top of the leaderboard by Taiwan's Lu Wei-chih, who carded a hat-trick of birdies from the 17th before losing ground with a double-bogey seven at the third.
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Lu's one-under 69 leaves him in a tie for third alongside Ian Poulter, despite the Englishman being without his regular caddie and only arriving in Hong Kong late on Wednesday.
Late-starter Andrea Pavan also looked set to challenge for the outright advantage when the overnight joint-leader got to seven under with six holes still to play, only to lose ground with three bogeys in a four-hole stretch.
British Masters winner Matt Fitzpatrick and fellow Englishman Matt Ford, who needs a top-20 finish to retain his European Tour playing card, were among a five-strong group on six under, with Graeme McDowell a further stroke back.
American Ryder Cup star Patrick Reed fired a 69 to sit at three under, but world No 8 Dustin Johnson joined former champion Miguel Angel Jimenez in missing the cut.
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