Hong Kong international Stuart Murray shot a solid second round of 73 to take sole possession of the lead at the Hong Kong Closed Amateur Championships.
South African-born Murray, who finished as the leading amateur at the 2004 Omega Hong Kong Open, carded three birdies and five bogeys over the Old Course at the Hong Kong Golf Club and maintains a one-stroke advantage over Syren Johnstone and 16-year-old Martin Liu.
Despite his lead, Murray refuses to get carried away. 'Unfortunately, I've never won this event. I've led with nine holes to go on plenty of occasions but have never gone on to take the title. Tomorrow I will just go out and try to keep calm and patient and not worry about what the other players are doing,' he said.
Despite the lack of any significant breeze, scoring on the Old Course was not particularly easy. Long rough made finding the fairways from the tee all that more important and the sun-baked greens were difficult to hold with approach shots. Yeung Tat-man's second round of even par 71 has so far proved to be the lowest score of the event to date.
The final two rounds of the tournament will be played today with 10 players within six shots of the lead.
Among Murray's closest rivals for the title is second-placed Johnstone. The Australian has been Hong Kong's most consistent performer over the past year following victory in the 2004 Aquascutum Hong Kong Mid-Amateur Open Championship and second placed outings at the 2004 Macau Open and 2004 Kau Sai Chau International Open.
