Albatross propels Australia's Scott Hend into contention in China

23 April 2016 06:23

A spectacular albatross helped Australia's Scott Hend surge into contention in the weather-disrupted Shenzhen International on Saturday.

Hend, who won his second European Tour title in Thailand last month, holed his second shot to the par-five 17th from 233 yards in a second round of 65, which also featured three birdies and an eagle.

"I hit a nice five wood and heard a clap up at the green," said Hend, whose ball landed just a few feet from the hole, took two bounces and dropped in.

"I turned to TC (Tony Carolan, his caddie) and said wouldn't it be funny if it went in. A cameraman came up and said it was a two - it was very surprising.

"I've been fortunate enough to make six of them. When you hit the ball longer than average you give yourself a few chances over the many number of years I've been playing.

"It's awesome. When you have a hole in one it's great, but an albatross really gives you more of an edge. I three-putted the par-three the hole before so I was lucky to get it back - and more."

At eight under par, Hend was five shots behind halfway leader Soomin Lee of Korea, who had completed his own 65 on Friday and had not carded a single bogey in the first two rounds.

Lee was three shots ahead of Holland's Joost Luiten, with Scotland's Richie Ramsay a shot further back after carding a flawless 66 on Saturday as the second round was belatedly completed. More than six hours of play had been lost due to bad weather on Thursday and Friday.

Ramsay, who had played three holes of his second round in one under par on Friday and collected five more birdies on the resumption, said: " I just chipped away at it slowly but surely. Obviously to get to nine under is close enough. It's sort of touching distance. Still got 36 holes, so you don't know what's going to happen really.

"But you've got to play aggressive. If a storm comes in (on Sunday), the third round might be the last round. So there are a lot of things to think about to formulate a plan and work out the style of golf you want to play.

"My game is so steady at the moment, though, I've got a lot of chances. I just need to keep doing what I'm doing and the scores will come."

England's Lee Slattery also shot 66 to sit alongside Hend on eight under, with Tommy Fleetwood on six under alongside first-round joint leader Alexander Levy.

Fleetwood, who finished a shot outside the play-off 12 months ago, carded an opening 70 in the inaugural event in 2015, but has since recorded five consecutive rounds of 69 at Genzon Golf Club.

World number four Bubba Watson is nine shots off the lead after adding a 69 to his opening 71, with defending champion Kiradech Aphibarnrat three shots further back following a 72.

Source: PA