Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie shrugged off one of the worst slumps of his career at the UBS Hong Kong Open yesterday while “nearly man” Oliver Wilson raised hopes of a breakthrough win.
South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen fired a blistering 62, one off the course record, to share a four-way lead at eight-under 132 with Wilson, fellow Englishman Oliver Fisher and Thailand’s Chawalit Plaphol after round two.
India’s Jeev Milkha Singh carded 63 on a bright, low-scoring day at par-70 Fanling to lie six-under and two off the pace, just five days after winning the lucrative Singapore Open.
Hong Kong teenager Jason Hak, meanwhile, became the youngest player to make a European tour cut at 14 years and 304 days, beating the record set by world No. 2 Sergio Garcia in 1995.
But 2005 US Open champion Michael Campbell, one of six Major winners here, was forced out with a shoulder injury and may be sidelined until January.
English legend Nick Faldo missed the level-par cut in his first and only event of the year, just two months after drawing heavy criticism for leading Europe to a heavy Ryder Cup defeat.
Veteran Montgomerie, the 2005 champion, has dropped to No. 118 in the world after a winless year and no top 10 finishes since June. But the eight-time European merit winner shook off the barren spell with five-under 65 for 133, just one off the lead.
“It’s a place I feel very comfortable in. I like the city and I feel very safe here and it’s amazing how one plays well in a place that you enjoy,” Montgomerie said.
The winless Wilson, who lost a play-off with Sergio Garcia for his eighth European runner-up finish, insisted he wouldn’t be thinking of second place if he was in contention tomorrow.
“I won’t be walking down the last few holes thinking, ‘Oh, I’m going to finish second again,’ because you’ll probably finish fourth or fifth,” he said.
Montgomerie was in a group just back from the leaders along with Johan Edfors, Marcus Fraser, Francesco Molinari and overnight leader Richard Sterne.
India’s Singh was a shot further back on 134, level with Taiwan’s Lin Wen-tang (林文堂) and rising Northern Irish star Rory McIlroy, 19, who birdied his first four holes and ended with 64.
Major winners John Daly and Bernhard Langer were four off the pace on 136, 2001 winner Jose Maria Olazabal was on 137 and defending champion Miguel Anguel Jimenez was eight shots adrift on level par 140.
Hong Kong is the second stop on the European Tour’s all-new Race to Dubai, where the top 60 money-earners are invited to next November’s US$10 million Dubai World Championship.
■ DUNLOP PHOENIX
AFP, MIYAZAKI, JAPAN
Japan’s Tomohiro Kondo shot a two-under-par 69 to lead the field after the second round at the Dunlop Phoenix tournament yesterday.
Starting the day one stroke off overnight leader Paul Sheehan of Australia, Kondo sank three birdies against one bogey for a two-round total of five-under-par 137.
“I always lose my confidence on this difficult course, but so far it’s going very well the first two days. I just hope to score one under everyday,” Kondo said.
Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano of Spain, who marked his personal best 72-hole strokes of 272 here last year, carded an eagle and one birdie against two bogeys for a total of 138. He shares second place with Thailand’s Prayad Marksaeng, Sweden’s Henrik Stenson, and Japan’s Michio Matsumura.
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