Zander Lombard is hoping to finally get himself into the winner's circle on the DP World Tour after moving into contention at the Volvo China Open.
The South African has had several near misses in recent years - five runner-up finishes since 2022 - but is still waiting for that elusive first victory on the DP World Tour.
The most recent of his seven career second-placed finishes came at the Bahrain Championship presented by Bapco Energies in February during a run of eight events where he finished no lower than 25th.
He is eager to get over the finish line with his nose in front, especially after playing his opening two rounds with halfway leader Sebastian Söderberg, who sits three clear of Paul Waring at 16 under.
Lombard is six adrift heading into the weekend, but having watched Söderberg, who leads the Asian Swing Rankings, at close quarters, and with his wife Kelsy-Amor in attendance in Shenzhen, the 29-year-old is confident of a title tilt at Hidden Grace Golf Club.
"It was a bit of a mixed bag out there today. I made two silly bogeys but other than that it was pretty solid," Lombard said after his second round of 68.
"I was able to keep my momentum going from yesterday with lots of good ball striking and I gave myself plenty of birdie chances. Hopefully I can capitalise on this strong start over the weekend.
"It’s great to have my wife here this week because she is awesome. She’s my biggest supporter, but also my toughest critic.
"It’s been enjoyable to play with Sebastian Söderberg because I know if I've got a tough shot then I will need to pull it off because he’s probably going to birdie the hole. He was relentless again today and you can see how much confidence he is playing with.
"Overall, I’m happy with my first two days. I have some work to do now but hopefully we can have another good round tomorrow.
"I’ve been knocking on the door over the last six to eight months so hopefully I can get over the line and get that first victory under my belt on the DP World Tour."
