Liam Nolan had a quieter day by the lofty standards he has produced in his last five rounds as he carded a 70 to lie eight shots off the pace at the halfway stage of the Hainan Open.
Nolan is seven-under-par for his efforts after mixing four birdies with two bogeys. The Galway man is still in a share of tenth place and projected to move from 12th to 9th in the Road to Mallorca Rankings with the top-15 earning DP World Tour cards at the Grand Final at the end of the month.
Gary Hurley however, needs a big week next week to advance to the Grand Final as a second round of 81 saw him plummet below the cut line and he is projected to fall from 53rd to 60th with the top-45 advancing to the Mallorca showpiece.
Joseba Torres carded a second round five under par 67 to reach 15 under and stretch his lead to four after Friday.
The Spaniard mixed seven birdies with two bogeys on day two to build on his stunning ten under par opening round, before play was suspended due to darkness with seven groups left to finish.
Torres said he was more pleased with his second round than his opening 62 considering the rain and wind that significantly increased the challenge presented by Sanya Luhuitou Golf Club.
“I know yesterday I shot ten under, but the five under today felt even better because the conditions were very tough,” he said.
“We played a few holes with wind and rain, and it was a good fight because it was tough.
“I had to be patient, and I was able to make a few putts on the last few holes to play a good round today.”
Torres got his second round off to the perfect start, picking up where he left off on day one, by making three straight birdies from the second to the fourth.
The weather worsened as he made the turn, however, with strong winds followed by heavy rain leading to the first couple of dropped shots of the week for the 24-year-old at the ninth and 11th.
But birdies at seven and ten ensured the bogeys didn’t see him going backwards, before final gains on 15 and 18 saw him to the 15 under mark.
“I just tried to fight I guess,” he added. “The ball was not going anywhere, the greens were soft and the fairways were super soft.
“After yesterday I was still feeling very good about my game so just kept on going, and then after the rain came on seven or eight it was much tougher.
“I played well the whole round, made some poor drives at the end but made some good putts which I’ll keep in mind for tomorrow.”
Torres finds himself in prime position entering the weekend, with the increased Road to Mallorca points available this week meaning a win could see him vault up to the top 15 in the Rankings.
But the solo leader, who currently lies down in 64th in the season-long leaderboard, says he won’t be thinking about that at this stage.
“I’m still 64th in the Rankings so I have nothing to lose. I’ll just keep going.
“These guys play amazing golf so if you sleep for a moment or whatever they are going to run you over, so I’ll just go with everything I have tomorrow.
“Now I’m going to rest and try and keep dry.”
Finn Tapio Pulkkanen is Torres’ closest competitor, a second round 68 seeing him reach 11 under par after two rounds. Englishmen Callum Farr and Chris Wood hold third and fourth place, sitting at ten and nine under par respectively.
The top five was rounded out by Dutchman Wouter de Vries, Singaporean Gregory Foo, Englishman Charlie Forster, Frenchman Julien Sale, and Charles Wang from China who are a further shot back.
Leave a comment