Tom McKibbin follows up 60 with 65 to lead Hong Kong Open

LEADER: Tom McKibbin carries a two-shotlead into the third round of the Hong Kong Open after Friday's 65.

Northern Ireland’s Tom McKibbin added a five-under-par 65 to his opening round 60 for a two-shot lead going into the weekend at the Hong Kong Open.

The LIV Golf star leads on 15-under at Hong Kong Golf Club from second-placed American Peter Uihlein plus Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Jazz Janewattananond.

Uihlein shot a 63, which included a triple bogey on his penultimate hole, Kiradech carded a 65 and Jazz a 66.

McKibbin, who plays for Legion XIII on LIV Golf, captained by Spaniard Jon Rahm, was bogey free again Friday and looks like he will be hard to beat this weekend.

“Very, very solid day,” said the 22-year-old, whose 60 yesterday set a new course record. “Game played very, very similar to yesterday. Just didn’t hole us as many putts. But very happy to keep the bogeys off the card.” 

McKibbin has won once before on the European Tour, two years ago, and is chasing his first title on the Asian Tour and The International Series.

He added: “Hopefully, very similar stuff [over the weekend] would be nice. Think I’ve sort of took the approach going into this week just to sort of play very aggressive and sort of just whatever the outcome is, come the end of the week, it is what it is. And I think maybe I’ll just keep doing that. And, I’ve had a quite nice year. So why not just go for it?” He made two birdies on the front and three, in a row, on the second half.

Uihlein, chasing his third title on The International Series following two wins last year, made nine birdies today before disaster on the par-four ninth, his 17th as he started on 11.

“I blocked it,” he said about the ninth, which he followed with a birdie. “Then chipped it through the fairway. Fatted it. Fatted it. Next one I wasn’t gonna fat it right?” Kiradech Aphibarnrat.

He’d cruised through his first nine in six-under, with four consecutive birdies from 12, and was running away with it before his unexpected finish.

Despite threatening to break McKibbin’s course record he added: “I hit it awful. Absolutely. Hit it terrible. Oh, it was awful. I didn’t hit a fairway until 18, and then I was in the middle of a divot, and then my next fairway I hit was on four and just had a clod of mud. I drove it awful. So, no, there was no thoughts of anything like that [course record], it was survival.”