Matthew Jordan is seeking his second win on the European Challenge Tour in the Hainan Open, and is ina seven-way tie for first at the halfway point. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

SEVEN players share the 36-hole lead on seven-under at the Hainan Open, following a day of relatively low scoring at China’s Sanya Luhuitou Golf Club.

Holland’s Wil Besseling, Frenchman Robin Roussel and China’s Liu Yanwei set the target after teeing off early on day two, while Hampshire’s Richard Bland and Royal Liverpool’s Matthew Jordan – plus China’s Xiao Bowen and South Korean Jaewoong Eom – joined them on seven-under as darkness began to descend over Sanya.

Of the leaders, Liu posted the lowest round as a six-under 66 earned him a share of the lead, while Besseling and Bland posted rounds of 67.

Bland, whose only victory in more than 570 European and Challenge Tour appearances came in the Grand Final back in 2001, is looking to regain the card he lost last year.

The Stoneham GC member, who is currently third on the Road to Mallorca rankings, said: “It was another hot day. I played the back nine, which was our front nine, well and I think I turned in 32.

“I felt like I actually left a couple out there. I played a little scrappy on the back. My short game kept me going, which was nice because you need that,” said Bland, who lost a play-off in the 2002 Irish Open.

“The ninth is just playing like an absolute brute, especially with that back right flag – you’re not getting anywhere near that,” added Bland,

“It was disappointing to make five but I’m not going to lose any sleep over it – not that I’m sleeping at the minute anyway!

“I’ve been coming to China for quite a number of years and flying East for a number of years and I still haven’t worked out how you sleep for those first four or five nights.

“I feel like I sleep great and then I look at the clock and I’ve been asleep for an hour-and-a-half.

“I haven’t been tired on the course or anything like that. I’ve been staying very hydrated. It would be nice to sleep a bit better, but hopefully that will come.

Xiao, Eom and Roussel signed for rounds of 68, while Wirral-based Jordan added a 70 to his opening 67.

Jordan, who would like to join Walker Cup team-mates Scott Gregory and Robert MacIntyre on the main tour, said: “I’ve played well. I started off the first round a bit iffy.

“I saved it a little bit in the first seven holes but from then on, from about the eighth hole yesterday, I played solid. I’ve shown positives on both days, so I’m happy.

“I didn’t think it was that different to yesterday,” added the winer of the Italian Challenge Open Eneos Motor Oil, in June.

“I did battle well actually, yesterday I just got up and down a couple more times,” said 23-year-old Jordan. “Over the two days I’ve been very solid and it doesn’t take much to pick up a shot or drop a shot.

“It’s a great event. It’s great to come to China, I’ve never been here before.

“It’s good to experience different things like the cuisine and course. The course is obviously very good. I haven’t heard one person say anything bad about it. The wind keeps it honest.”

Chinese ace Liu Yanwei said: “I had an early tee time this morning and the wind was low and then became stronger, but it was still better than yesterday.

“I didn’t play badly yesterday with seven birdies, but I got six bogeys and made some mistakes to end with a score of one-under.

“I controlled it a lot better today, with the same number of birdies, but I only bogeyed the 14th hole.”

Twenty-two year old Liu added: “I had an early tee time this morning and the wind was low and then became stronger, but it was still better than yesterday.

“I didn’t play badly yesterday with seven birdies, but I got six bogeys and made some mistakes to end with a score of one-under.

I controlled it a lot better today, with the same number of birdies, but I only bogeyed the 14th hole.

“Over the past two days, the ninth hole has caused trouble for most of us. It is 480 yards long and we had to play against the wind.

The wind direction has been basically the same since Tuesday, but it was a bit different on the seventh and eighth holes today.”

One shot further back is Frenchman Damien Perrier, Chinese duo Bai Zheng-kai and He Shaocai – who posted the low round of the day with a 65 – and Yeh Yu-Chen, from Chinese Taipei, who all share eighth place on six-under.

In total, 63 players survived the halfway cut of one-over par or lower, including the two Chinese amateurs Chen Guxin and Liu Enhua.

•To follow lives scores in the third round of the Hainan Open click here.

The post Nothing Bland about course or food in China as Jordan hits front with six others appeared first on Golf North.

Antoine Rozner fired a seven-under 65 to lead after the first round of China’s Hainan Open on the European Challenge Tour. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

A BOGEY on the final hole denied Antoine Rozner a blemish-free opening round at the European Challenge Tour’s Hainan Open, in China.

But the Frenchman will nevertheless take a commanding two-stroke lead into day two after carding a seven-under par round of 65.

Rozner, who has won twice on the Road to Mallorca this season, made five birdies prior to the turn after starting his quest for a third victory of 2019 on the 10th tee at Sanya Luhuitou Golf Club.

Three more gains and that single bogey arrived on the back nine as the rest of the field were able to match one of the tournament’s early starters.

Royal Liverpool’s Matthew Jordan posted a bogey-free 67 to sit in second place, while Frenchman Damien Perrier, Denmark’s Benjamin Poke and late-finisher Josh Geary, from New Zealand were a stroke further back on four-under after opening rounds of 68.

Rozner – winner of the Open de España and Prague Golf Challenge and looking for a third win that would guarantee automatic promotion to the Europrean Tour – acknowledged the quality of his play in China.

But he also admitted to getting a bit of luck along the way. “It was great,” said Rozner, who lies second in the Road to Mallorca rankings, needing a place in the top 15 to earn his full European Tour card for 2020.

“It was just one of those days where I hit a lot of good shots, a lot of good putts and made very few mistakes.

“When I did have a mistake, I got a good bounce and saved par. I got some good reads and it was one of those days where everything just went right.

“I played great and I think if I can keep playing like this for the next three days, I should be in pretty good shape ” added Rozner.

The 26-year-old’s undoubted highlight was a tricky downhill birdie putt from 25 feet on the fourth hole, which he was delighted to convert for a superb up-and-down from the bunker.

“I hit a good drive into the reachable par four and I was in the bunker with an uphill lie,” said Rozner. “It was quite a long bunker shot, so it wasn’t easy and I left it short.

“The putt was really, really fast and I was just looking to put it around the hole, to be honest. It ended up going in, so it was definitely the highlight of the day.”

With temperatures peaking at 33 degrees Celsius in Hainan, Rozner is keeping a keen focus on maintaining his energy levels ahead of the second round.

“I’m not going to waste much energy on the range,” he said. “It’s quite exhausting out there because the wind is swirling and it’s very hot.

“Saving energy is going to be key this week so I’ve got to be careful by staying hydrated and getting some good night’s sleep.”

Kiwi Geary came closest to matching Rozner’s total but two bogeys in his final three holes dropped him back into a tie for third.

That left him one shot clear of eight players on three-under including Zhang Jin and Xiao Bowen, who are currently the leading Chinese players.

The second round will begin at 7.10am local time, with Rozner due on the tee at 12.10pm.

•For live scoring in the Hainan Open click here.

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