Date: April 20, 2007
Author:

Jacquelin keeps pace

Raphael Jacquelin continues to lead the BMW Asian Open after the second day, while Scott Hend is just four shots off the pace. Jacquelin&aposs good run of form during the early stages of a tournament continued as the Frenchman followed up his six-under-par 66 in the first round with a solid 69 to move into nine under on the leaderboard, three shots clear of second-placed Sung-man Lee (70). However, Jacquelin will be trying to avoid another fade out, for he led the previous European Tour Event in Shanghai after the first two rounds, before dropping off badly in the last two days as Markus Brier came home with a wet sail to claim an impressive victory. For Hend (70), though, it was another solid day as the consistent Australian recovered from an early bogey on two to produce four birdies and another bogey on 14 to end the day tied for third alongside Colin Montgomerie (70), Soren Kjeldsen (72), Miguel Angel Jimenez (69) and Joakim Backstrom (69). Scott Barr was the next best for the Australian contingent, with scores of 71 and 70 seeing him tie for 11th at three under overall, while Adam Le Vesconte (71), Tony Carolan (74) and Matthew Millar (70) are all tied for 23rd at one under. BMW China Open -9: Raphael Jacquelin 66 69 -6: Sung-man Lee 68 70 -5: Scott Hend (AUS) 69 70, Colin Montgomerie 69 70, Soren Kjeldsen 67 72, Miguel Angel Jimenez 70 69, Joakin Backstrom 70 69 -4: Markus Brier 71 69, Simon Dyson 70 70, Peter Hansom 69 71. also: -3: Scott Barr (AUS) 71 70 -1: Adam Le Vesconte (AUS) 72 71, Tony Carolan (AUS) 69 74, Matthew Millar (AUS) 73 70 E: David Bransdon (AUS) 76 68, Adam Blyth (AUS) 71 73, Brett Rumford (AUS) 75 69 1: Peter O&aposMalley (AUS) 73 72, Marcus Both (AUS) 71 74 3: Unho Park (AUS) 74 73, Terry Pilkadaris (AUS) 75 72, Brad Kennedy (AUS) 74 73 4: Peter Fowler (AUS) 73 75 6: Gary Simpson (AUS) 78 72, Adam Groom (AUS) 77 73