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England's Anthony Wall edged into a second-round lead in the Perrier Hong Kong Open yesterday after a late collapse from Taiwan's Hsieh Chin-sheng left the 23-year-old European Tour rookie one shot clear of the field going into today's third round.

 Wall, who started the day at three-under par, leapt up the leaderboard at the Hong Kong Golf Club with a six-under-par 65 to go nine under after 36 holes.

 For most of yesterday, it looked as if Wall's impressive round would not be enough as Hsieh started in much the same way as he finished on Thursday.

 The 1988 Hong Kong Open winner shrugged off a bogey on the first to notch four birdies on the front nine and another on the 12th to go to 11-under par.

 But a disastrous double bogey on the 411-yard par-four 16th, where he four-putted, followed by a bogey on the 18th, put Hsieh back to eight under and left Wall sitting pretty.

 'I played really well today and I'm happy to be in the lead,' Wall said.

 'I hit every fairway and hit every green. I was putting well and that was the difference from Thursday. I converted the birdie chances when they came,' said the European Tour pro.

 Wall's putter was on fire early on, as he sank 20-foot and 15-foot birdie putts in the front nine to get off to the perfect start. 'I played well in the first round but I wasn't making the putts. That was the key today,' he said.

 Hsieh was still reflecting on his horrible four-putt at the 16th after his one-under-par 70 round.

 'I played good. I need to go and practise my putting now,' Hsieh said.

 Chasing Hsieh and Wall are 1996 US PGA Champion Mark Brooks and Taiwan's Wang Ter-chang, who are tied in third on six-under par, three strokes off the lead.

 Brooks was a model of consistency yesterday. The only blemish on his three-under-par 68 was a bogey on the 11th. An inability to take advantage of any of the three par-five holes on the 6,727-yard Championship layout had been the biggest disappointment, Brooks said.

 'I haven't made a birdie on any of those holes yet. That's what's stopped me from making a good score into a very good score,' Brooks said. 'But I feel really comfortable at the moment and I'm striking the ball well. I'm in good shape. I'll just try and keep it going over the weekend,' he added.

 While Brooks is well in touch with the leaders, John Daly will need a low round somewhere this weekend to get back into contention.

 Watched by a 400-strong gallery, 'Long John' struggled to repeat his opening-round form. And a one-over-par 72 saw his score drop back to four under for the tournament, five off the lead.

 The trend for Daly's round was set on the opening hole, when his tee-shot landed behind a tree, leaving him no option other than to chip on to the fairway.

 Although he reached the green in three, he two-putted for bogey.

 He recovered for a birdie on the third but bogeyed the fifth and played the remaining 13 holes to par. 'It was a boring round,' Daly said. 'I just couldn't make a putt. The greens seemed a lot slower today . . . the wind made it difficult as well,' he added.

 Daly remains optimistic of his chances heading into the final 36 holes of the weekend.

 'There's still a lot of birdies out there. It's just a matter of rolling some putts in. If you start the first couple of holes well, you can get it going . . . but it's just getting the speed of the greens down,' he said.

 Daly's partners, defending champion Frank Nobilo, and Italian Costantino Rocca had a mixed round. Rocca shot a two-under-par 69 to move to one under for the tournament, but Nobilo notched a two-over-par 73 to finish the day one over at the halfway mark.

Tee-off times - Page 21 



Rookie Wall charges past Hsieh to claim Open lead