Brett Rumford was keen to maintain the winning habit as the Australian grabbed the clubhouse lead midway through the second round of the Volvo China Open.
The 35 year old had a six year gap between his third European Tour title and his Ballantine’s Championship victory last Sunday, where he eagled the first play-off hole to win.
Rumford was clearly in no mood to wait so long for title number five, however, as he carded seven birdies and two bogeys in a 67 to reach nine under par after two rounds.
“This is a new week and another tournament,” said Rumford, who got his day’s scoring started with an approach to six feet at the second.
“I feel good, my fitness is good and my energy levels feel nice and high, so hopefully I can ride the wave over the weekend and keep the good feelings going.
“It’s a nice feeling when you’re holing putts and seeing your name up near the top of the leaderboard. You’ve got to make the most of these moments when they come along, and I’m managing to do that at the minute.”
Rumford was one ahead of overnight leader Robert-Jan Derksen, the Dutchman adding a two under par 70 to his opening 66.
“I played pretty solid again today, just had two bad holes in the middle of my round,” said Derksen, who bogeyed the first and second – his tenth and 11th – but had four birdies as he looks to end a run of 215 European Tour events without a win.
“The second hole was very frustrating, because I only had a wedge from the middle of the fairway so should’ve been looking to make birdie, but duffed the chip and ended up walking away with a bogey. But other than that, I played well and the last five holes in particular were pretty good. So all in all, I have to be very happy with my position after two rounds.”
In-form Spaniard Pablo Larrazábal matched the best score of the week with a 66 to move into third on seven under par, with Australia’s Matthew Griffin a shot further back in fourth.
Jacquelin was two under through 12 and alongside Griffin, England’s Graeme Storm, Korean Park Sang-hyun and Finn Mikko Ilonen on six under.
Defending champion Branden Grace was not entirely out of the running after a stirring comeback.
The South African was five over with five holes to play in his opening round but birdied three of them, then came home in a brilliant 30 today which saw him sign for a 67 and three under halfway total.
