Chinese number one's impressive second round has South Korean waxing lyrical
KJ Choi got his first look at Liang Wenchong on Thursday and said China's number one played like an order of merit leader. Yesterday, Liang played like an order of merit winner as he outscored overnight leader Choi (72) and second-placed Miguel Angel Jimenez (67) with a composed four-under 66 that left him six shots off sizzling pacesetter Robert Karlsson.
'I didn't know how far he could strike the ball,' Choi said after Liang's opening two-under 68. 'I was surprised as his iron play was also very solid. He really plays like the Asian Tour's order of merit leader. With his talent he will continue to improve and, with his distance, the future looks very bright.'
Choi started the day six strokes ahead of Liang after his first-round 62, but wound up level after a two-over 72. It was a poor round considering so many players went into red figures. Liang leads the UBS Order of Merit by US$67,465 from Anton Haig, but the South African missed the cut yesterday. Liang's nearest challenger this weekend is Chapchai Nirat, who is fourth on the list and US$155,000 in arrears. Chaphai was at one-under after a second-round 73.
'This is the last big event on the Asian Tour and it is my intention to do well,' said the 29-year-old Liang, who hails from Zhongshan. 'There are a number of players who could jump ahead of me.'
There are three events left on the calendar - in Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand.
'My priority in the first two days was to make the cut,' said Liang. 'Now I can look at the bigger picture.' The Picasso would be holding the UBS Hong Kong Open trophy aloft tomorrow night, thereby becoming the first Chinese golfer to win the 49-year-old tournament and the first Asian since Kang Wook-soon in 1998.