Henrik Stenson and Sergio Garcia stand one shot clear of the field after the second round of the HSBC Champions tournament.
McDowell ignites his hopes with sizzling second round of 65
Henrik Stenson and Sergio Garcia stand one shot clear of the field after the second round of the HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai was finally completed on Saturday.
Stenson started the day at the top of the leaderboard following his opening 65 on Thursday with play having been completely washed out by heavy rain on Friday.
More rain ensured play was delayed for three hours on Saturday but, while only a handful of players started their third rounds, the second was completed with Stenson carding a three-under 69 to remain the pacesetter at ten-under-par.
However, he was joined by Garcia who returned a bogey-free 68 to grab a share of the lead alongside the Swede.
The Spaniard looked set for a rather frustrating day having started his round with 13 consecutive pars, but a superb eagle-three at 14 provided the momentum he needed and birdies at 16 and 18 ensured a satisfactory day's work.
"That eagle really got myself going a little bit and it was a really nice finish on the 16th and 18th," Garcia stated afterwards.
"It was a good solid round but it could have been different if I had made a couple of birdies earlier on. But at the end of the day, it was still a nice, solid round."
Stenson managed two birdies on both the front and back nine with just a solitary bogey at the par-three fourth blotting his copybook.
"I was pleased with my scoring this afternoon," the Swede commented. "I was still putting pretty good and played mainly three woods today to keep the ball in play and hit some good approaches."
The leaders are just clear of Ryder Cup colleagues Graeme McDowell and Oliver Wilson who produced rounds of 65 and 68 respectively.
Eye-catching form
McDowell was in particularly eye-catching form with seven birdies and not a single bogey during his second round and he then made a solid start to his third with another birdie at the second taking him to within a stroke of the lead, and that is where he remained when a halt was called to proceedings with the Ulsterman having played four holes.
"I played very solidly, I didn't do much wrong," declared McDowell. "I hit a lot of fairways, a lot of greens and was never really out of position at all. It could have been better really, but I am very content obviously."
A group of four players are a further shot back at eight-under, South African Andrew McLardy (69), Australians Geoff Ogilvy (65) and Scott Strange (68) and world number two and defending champion Phil Mickelson (70).
Meanwhile, tournament organisers have confirmed the tournament, which is the first on the new lucrative Race to Dubai, will be played over 72 holes, with the leaders expected to have to completed their fourth rounds on Monday.
