Matt Wallace fired a 2-under par 70 at Topwin Golf & Country Club and will head into the weekend in Beijing with a one shot lead at the Volvo China Open.
The Englishman started the day one back of Chinese Daxing Jin but turned in 34 and then offset a bogey on No. 17 with a birdie on the 18th to secure the 36-hole marquee at 9-under par.
“It was tough all day, the wind picked up in the afternoon,” said Wallace, who won the Hero Indian Open last month.
“I was two under after eight holes and was just thinking we can get a couple more birdies on the back nine. But the wind just picked up and I could not get it close enough.
“There were a lot of guys on eight under par this morning and I tried to push on and widen the gap but the weather didn’t really allow me to score. Hopefully the weather will be kind.
“I am playing nice golf so to be ahead with the tough conditions today is a nice feeling and I am going to bring that over to the weekend.”
Australian Jason Scrivener overcame a double bogey on the 9th hole and carded three birdies against one bogey on the back to sign for a 67, good for a two-day total of 8 under, alongside Spain’s Nacho Elvira (67) and American Sihwan Kim (66).
The Spanish twosome of Jorge Campillo and Adrian Otaegui were 7 under at T5, as were Korean Soomin Lee and France’s Julien Guerrier.
TOP 10 LEADERS
1 Matt Wallace -9
2 Jason Scrivener -8
2 Nacho Elvira -8
2 Sihwan Kim -8
5 Jorge Campillo -7
5 Adrian Otaegui -7
5 Soomin Lee -7
5 Julien Guerrier -7
9 Scott Jamieson -6
9 Jeunghun Wang -6
9 Alexander Bjork -6
9 Jason Norris -6
9 Nino Bertasio -6
VIDEO: SHOT OF THE DAY
Jason Scrivener with a hole-out eagle on the par-4 5th hole.
Now that's how you take the lead!
Yes @ScrivJ, it's in the hole ??♂️ pic.twitter.com/zH7YazrCrr
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) April 27, 2018
QUOTABLE
“I am playing nice golf so to be ahead with the tough conditions today is a nice feeling.”
– Matt Wallace
Credit: European Tour Media, Getty Images
