Max Kennedy carded a crucial four-under-par round of 68 to ensure that he made the cut at the HotelPlanner Tour’s Hangzhou Open, but Liam Nolan will have to watch from the sidelines as a missed cut means the Galway man’s hopes of ending the week inside the top 45 in the Road to Mallorca rankings are out of his hands.
After opening with a 70, Kennedy, who came into the week ranked 45th, knew that a missed cut would surely spell the end of his chances of earning promotion to the DP World Tour in his maiden year as a pro. Starting round two on the 10th, a par-bogey opening was far from ideal, but he regrouped to birdie three of the final five holes and made the turn at -2.
Further birdies on the par-3 third and par-4 fifth holes took him to -4 for the day and -6 for the week, and he goes into the weekend tied for 29th, but far from secure as scores elsewhere mean he’s projected to fall to 46th in the rankings and be on the outside looking in for the HotelPlanner Tour’s Rolex Grand Final.
Nolan, who ranked 37th coming in, had a little more breathing room, but after a level-par 72 on day one, needed to improve by several strokes to make it through to the weekend. After two birdies and a bogey on his first nine, he parred the first eight holes on the second and closed out with a birdie on the last but it proved to be one stroke too many as the cutline fell at -3.
He’s projected to fall to 40th in the rankings, but 13 players ranked outside the top 45 made the cut and there is the potential that six of those could overtake him if results go against the Galway man.
At the top of the leaderboard, Lukas Nemecz will take a two-stroke lead into the weekend after posting a six-under-par second round of 66.
The Austrian, who started the day two shots off the lead made six birdies, two bogeys and one eagle to move to -13 for the week and leads by two from Spaniard Sebastian Garcia.
Nemecz was happy to take advantage of perfect scoring conditions for the second successive day in China.
“I am very happy with my first two rounds,” he said. “Seven under yesterday and six under today, it’s great.
“I’ve been really good on the par fives so took my chances there, hitting three of them under regulation. It’s a golf course where you need to be good in every department and so far, I’ve been happy with my game.
“There are four par fives that are kind of reachable where you need to hit good three woods from the fairway. These holes make a big difference. The key this week is to be good on the par fives.”
The highlight of the 36-year-old’s round came on the par four 14th, where he holed out from the fairway for eagle and Nemecz was delighted to gain ground on one of Hangzhou West Lake Golf Club’s toughest holes.
“It was a bit bonus nearly making a two on such a tough hole,” he added.
“It’s a tough hole. I hit a good two iron off the tee which was defensive and then I almost slam dunked my seven iron which was very nice.”
Nemecz is currently ranked 30th in the season-long Road to Mallorca Rankings, and admits that a place in the top 20 and promotion is very much on his mind with additional points available at this week’s event.
“The Rankings are definitely on my mind for sure,” he added.
“The goal is to get back on the DP World Tour and there’s still two chances left, with one this week. I am delighted with my position after two rounds. I’ll have to keep playing well but it will be nice to get some big points this week.
“I’ve been playing well since the break in the summer. My form is good, and I am hitting the ball nicely. I won’t change too much over the weekend; I am in a great situation and that’s where I want to be.”
Peru’s Julian Perico, Spaniard Victor Pastor, Swede Albin Bergstrom, Frenchman Clement Charmasson, China’s Jin Bo, English pair Tom Lewis and James Morrison and South African duo Wilco Nienaber and Bryce Easton share third place on -10.
The third round of the Hangzhou Open gets under way at 8:44am local time with Nemecz teeing off alongside Easton and Garcia at 10:45am.
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