Derksen heads leaderboard in Asian Open

Robert-Jan Derksen took the clubhouse lead midway through the second round of the BMW Asian Open after carding a three-under-par 69 today.

The 34-year-old Dutchman has two victories on the European Tour and put himself in a good position to challenge for a third this weekend with five birdies against two bogeys and is five-under-par overall.

Starting on the back nine, Derksen made the ideal start with birdies on the 10th and 11th and although he dropped a shot on the 14th, he recovered with another birdie on the next hole.

He then bogeyed the first but finished strongly with two more birdies while making par on the rest to hold a slender advantage over the chasing pack.

Darren Clarke is a stroke behind overall at four under after also carding a three-under-par 69 today.

The Northern Irishman started the day four strokes behind overnight leader Peter O’Malley but carded four birdies and one bogey to put himself in a good position for the weekend.

“The course was very difficult today,” said Clarke.

“The breeze was making it difficult to get close to the hole so anything under 70 is a very good score so I am very pleased.”

Australian O’Malley carded a five-under-par 67 yesterday but struggled to build on that as he returned to the clubhouse with a two-over-par 74.

The 42-year-old had started well with two successive birdie putts from the second but they proved to be the only positives as he carded four bogeys in the remainder of his round to drop to three under overall.

Oliver Wilson and Jeev Milkha Singh both carded two bogeys in their first four holes to drop to two under while Henrik Stenson remained one shot off the lead having made par in his first four holes.

Defending champion Raphael Jacquelin endured another disappointing round as he carded a two-over 74 and is three over par overall.