KUNMING, 2 Sept 2016, (HK Golfer News Wire) - A day after shooting a back-nine 29 that helped him take the first-round lead at the Yulongwan Yunnan Open, Shun Yat Hak used two eagles and an 18th-hole birdie over his final nine holes Friday to shoot a 30, matching Paul Imondi at 14-under. The duo leads Charlie Saxon by a shot after the American quickly moved up the leaderboard with an 8-under 63. Australia’s Peter Cooke is tied for third, at 11-under, thanks to a tournament-best 62. He’s joined by Order of Merit leader Zecheng Dou.
After 36 holes at Yulongwan Golf Club, Hak shows no signs of letting up, while Imondi has shot 64 in each of his last three PGA TOUR China rounds. With a handful of players lurking behind the leaders, the weekend is setting up for a spirited battle.
For the second consecutive Ping An Bank China Tour – PGA TOUR China Series tournament, Hak, a 22-year-old from Hong Kong, is the 36-hole leader. Hak certainly hopes he finishes this event better than he did the last when he was in a similar position. At the Ping An Private Bank Wanda Open in early July, Hak opened 69-67, and at 8-under he held a two-shot lead at the halfway point. He faded badly on the weekend (78-75), eventually tying for 24th. Meanwhile, Imondi has been a steady performer in 2016, making the cut in all seven of his starts, a tie for second at the Cadillac Championship his top effort.
Hak was coasting along Friday, but nothing in his game showed that he would replicate his Thursday back-nine performance, especially when he was only even-par through 10 holes. At the par-4 10th, Hak hit his drive to the middle of the fairway. His pitching-wedge approach went exactly how he wanted. But instead of the ball settling near the cup, it bounded off the flagstick and rolled to the front of the green. From there, an indifferent chip and two putts led to a bogey.
From there, Hak, who as a 14-year-old, made the cut at the European Tour’s Hong Kong Open was 6-under over his final eight holes. After pars at Nos. 11 and 12, Hak got things going. He hit his 5-iron approach on the par-5 13th to pin high, just off the green. In front of his ball on the fringe was a sprinkler head, which prohibited him from putting. No problem, though. He just chipped in from 25 feet.
“Perfect speed,” Hak said.
Hak’s second eagle of the day came three holes later. After a birdie at the 15th, he hit his 6-iron approach on No. 16 to five feet. “It was a really good 6-iron. It was a good yardage,” Hak said. “I fed it down the slope.”
Hak punctuated his round with a seven-foot birdie putt on No. 18. His first- and second-round stroke average in his last two tournaments is 66.0.
“I can’t say the course is easy. There are a lot of birdie holes and holes that give you opportunities. But there are also holes that you really can’t attack,” Hak added. “The greens are rolling great. If you make a few long-distance and a few short-distance putts, then you have a great score.
“You can see I played two good rounds, and I’m only one ahead,” Hak continued. “There are a lot of great players out here.”
One of those is Imondi. The Californian had birdie streaks of three (Nos. 12-14) and four (Nos. 1-4) during his round. His lone bogey came at No. 7, but he finished his day with a birdie at the par-3 ninth.
Saxon, the University of Oklahoma product, counts a runner-up finish on PGA TOUR Latinoamerica and a third-place showing in his last start (Ping An Private Bank Wanda Open) as his best performances in 2016. Playing Yulongwan Golf Club’s back nine first, he opened with a par then rattled off five consecutive birdies, none of his putts longer than 15 feet. For the day, Saxon used his putter a mere 25 times, counting seven one-putt greens.
“I played really well. I got off to a great start. It’s always nice to birdie five of your first six. You don’t expect that. So when it happens you just roll with it and try to keep going as far as you can,” Saxon said. “You just have to keep trying to make birdies, and I feel like I did a good job with that, staying aggressive.
Saxon finished his day with three consecutive birdies, each putt getting increasingly easier. He drained a 20-footer on his 16th, a three-footer on 17 and a tap-in from a foot on the closing hole.