Quartet leads China Open

Frenchman Gregory Havret was among a group of four players at the head of the field in the second round of the China Open at Chengdu.

Havret was joined in the clubhouse on 12 under par by South African Keith Horne, Denmark’s Jeppe Huldahl and Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts at the Luxehills International Country Club.

A further four players were in the clubhouse at 11 under, including former world number two Sergio Garcia, who shot a five-under-par 67 today.

Havret, the 2010 US Open runner-up completed a second consecutive round of 66 and said: “I had a good round. I birdied 16, 17, 18 then one and three so five under for six holes was the key.

“I’ve not played badly this year – a couple of top 20s in the Middle East and a third in India, and I was a bit disappointed to miss the cut at the Masters. The game is pretty much there. I just need to get some iron shots going and I did that today.”

Horne had returned to the course early to complete his opening round and two birdies in those four holes enabled him to take the first-round lead off Han Chang-won.

A second-round 69 to add to his 63 left him in a tight group at the head of the leaderboard.

He said: “It’s the sort of course you can get going on. There’s not much to scare you out there. If you get the irons and putter going you can get a good score.”

Colsaerts hit 67 and was able to pick up shots on both par fives on the back nine to add to successive birdies on his first two holes.

Huldahl, a former Wales Open champion, found his form on the greens and included eight birdies in his round of 65.

Garcia was joined at 11 under by Dutchman Robert-Jan Derksen, Sweden’s Fredrik Andersson Hed and Australian Steve Alker. Ireland’s Peter Lawrie was also 11 under through 16 holes and India’s Jeev Milka Singh was on the same mark through 15.

Korean Han was 10 under after 17 and Northern Ireland’s Gareth Maybin, a shot behind Han after the first round, was nine under with six to play.