Dyson in the frame in China
Simon Dyson today moved into a share of the lead in the Volvo China Open alongside Chapchai Nirat and Markus Brier.
Dyson began the day two behind overnight leader Brier and with the Austrian dropping shots at his opening two holes, had the opportunity to stake his claim in the co-sanctioned event.
However, the 31-year-old failed to make early headway, carding two bogeys and two birdies in his first six holes.
However, Dyson then collected a birdie three at the eighth to move to four under at the turn.
Brier, meanwhile, partially repaired the damage caused by his inauspicious start with birdies at the fifth and 11th, although he dropped another shot at the sixth.
Chapchai had earlier carded a one-under-par 71 to go with his opening 69 and move firmly into contention.
The 25-year-old began the day on three-under but quickly moved to four-under with a birdie at the par-five 10th, his first hole.
Dropped shots at the 12th and 15th were setbacks but the Thai responded with further birdies at the 16th and 18th.
That was how he finished as a bogey and a birdie on his second nine holes saw him take the clubhouse lead.
Nick Dougherty had topped the leaderboard for a while on five-under after the 26-year-old birdied the third, but bogeys at the sixth and 10th saw him fall back into a group of five players on three-under that included Paul McGinley and Richard Finch.
McGinley fired himself into contention after taking advantage of benign early conditions to card an impressive 67.
Starting on the 10th, the Irishman blitzed the back nine with five birdies to reach the halfway point of his round in 32 before a bogey at the first stalled his charge.
However, McGinley picked up another shot at the fifth to leap firmly back into contention following an opening 74 yesterday and felt an improved effort with the putter was key to his round.
“I played pretty well yesterday but putted really, really poorly. Today, I played pretty much the same but putted fantastically, that’s the difference. A 74 yesterday, 67 today, just shows the difference,” he said.
“It’s the kind of golf course that suits me. You’ve got to pick your way round it, you can’t overpower it like some of those desert courses we played at the start of the year.
“The greens are firm and slopey, you have to be very precise with your distance control. If you can hit between 10 and 14 greens around here, I think you’ve played very well and then the big key is to putt well, which fortunately I did today.
“The big thing is not getting frustrated with the golf course because you can get very frustrated hitting good shots and not getting the reward.”
