Ball blow for Warren

Scotland’s Marc Warren was left to rue the actions of a light-fingered spectator after his ball was stolen mid-round at the HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai, costing him a share of the lead.

Warren walked to the 15th at six under, at that point in a tie for the lead, but his drive finished in the left-hand rough.

When he walked to the spot where he thought it was he could not find it and after a lengthy delay officials ruled he had to declare it lost and return to the tee to play a second ball.

He escaped with a bogey five and eventually finished with a six-under-par 66, one behind leader Jyoti Randhawa.

Warren said: “The girls there said they had seen someone running off, which caused us to belive that the balls had been stolen.

“But if no one sees anyone actually physically pick the ball up then it goes as a lost ball, which happened in this case.”

The 25-year-old Scandanavian Masters champion, the 2006 European Tour Rookie of the Year, birdied all but three holes on the front nine.

More birdies came at the 11th and 16th, with his only dropped shots at the 13th and the controversial 15th.