France’s Alexander Levy established a whopping six shot clubhouse lead midway through the second round of the 20th Volvo China Open after a course record 62 at Genzon Golf Club.
Levy started the day with the par five 18th to play from his opening round after bad light curtailed Thursday’s play; but the 23 year old could only manage a par to remain a shot behind first round leaders Simon Dyson and Alvaro Quiros.
However, after a swift turnaround the birdies soon started flowing as Levy gave himself an excellent chance of a maiden European Tour victory.
Levy fired four birdies and an eagle from 25 feet at the long ninth to turn in 30, before gaining further shots at the tenth, 12th, 14th and 17th for a ten under par 62.
That took the World Number 282 to 14 under par, six ahead of compatriot Raphaël Jacquelin, with Finland’s Mikko Ilonen and Scot Richie Ramsay a shot further back in third.
“It is a great round for me,” said Levy, whose best European Tour finish to date came when he finished third at last year’s BMW International Open.
“I played unbelievably today and it’s the first time I have played like that. I really like the course and it is in great shape.
“I played really well and made a lot of putts to make the lowest score of my career. I shot 63 at Kingsbarns during the Dunhill Links in Scotland last year but this course is a lot tougher and I am only starting to realise how good that score is.
“I played the right strategy today and I just have to try to do that over the next couple of days. I hope that I can play with Raph tomorrow because he is a great friend and it would be funny if we could play in the last group together tomorrow.
“I just tried to play one shot at a time. I didn’t realise how good the score was to be honest because I was focussed on playing shot by shot.
“I am very happy to be here - this is my first time in China and I feel great to be playing so well in what is a really big event for me.”
Jacquelin had six birdies against a single bogey in his round of 67, while Ilonen and Ramsay both posted blemish-free rounds of 68.
“I played a bit better today compared to how I was hitting the ball yesterday, so I feel pretty good,” said Jacquelin. “Still a few bad shots, but overall, five under, I’ll take it, definitely.”
Spain’s Adrian Otaegui birdied three of his first four holes to join Ilonen and Ramsay on seven under, while overnight joint-leaders Alvaro Quiros and Simon Dyson were six under and five under for the week respectively.
Defending champion Brett Rumford had birdied his opening hole to move into a share of the lead, but five bogeys dropped him back into the pack on one under.
Quiros was enjoying an eventful second round – an eagle at the 17th took him into a share of second, but after dropping shots at the 18th and third he needed birdies from ten feet at the second and eight feet at the fourth to stay there.
While that was something of a mixed bag, it was preferable to the fortunes of Ian Poulter.
The Ryder Cup star was moving into contention when he followed a 55 foot eagle at the ninth with a birdie at the 11th to reach six under, but was in danger of missing the cut when he followed a three-putt double bogey at the short 12th with a triple bogey eight at the next.
Having driven a long way right into trees, Poulter had to take relief on a cart path before he could take a drop away from it. While he was entitled to two club lengths for the initial drop onto the path, the Englishman mistakenly took two lengths again for his free drop away from the path when only one was permitted, thus incurring a further penalty shot before taking two shots to find the green and two putts.
