Michael Campbell shot a scintillating six-under 64 to climb to the top of the leaderboard at the Hong Kong Open on Friday, while Marcus Fraser is tied for eighth. Campbell carded seven birdies and one bogey in the second round to be at nine-under par at the midway point at the Hong Kong Golf Club. The New Zealander made just four cuts in two years after famously winning the 2005 US Open and dropped outside the top 1000 in the world rankings. Campbell was ranked just 910th four months ago, but moved up to 339rd after finishing in third place at the Portugal Masters last month. Swede Fredrik Andersson Hed (66), China&aposs Zhang Lianwei (66) and Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez (67) were tied for second at eight under. Denmark&aposs Anders Hansen (64) was a further stroke behind in fifth place, with overnight leader Javier Colomo (71) and Japan&aposs Daisuke Kataoka (67) sharing sixth place at five under. Spain&aposs Colomo, who fired a flawless 64 in the opening round, shot just two birdies and three bogeys second time around. Australia&aposs Fraser (69) was among a group of five players in equal eighth at four under. Italian Matteo Manassero (70), who won the Singapore Open in a playoff last week, was in a tie for 13th place at three under. World number one and defending champion Rory McIlroy suffered another poor round, with his 72 moving him from 93rd to equal 88th. McIlroy is 14 shots off the pace in his bid to become the first player since the tournament began in 1959 to successfully defend the title. Andrew Dodt (73) was the next best Australian in equal 20th, followed by Scott Strange (69) in a tie for 36th.
Author: Omnisport