Date: April 25, 2008
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O’Malley well in contention

Veteran Australian Peter O&aposMalley is just two shots off the lead going into the final two rounds of the BMW Asian Open. O&aposMalley fired a two-over round of 74 to finish at three-under-par, to trail overnight leaders Robert-Jan Derksen and Zhang Lian-wei by two strokes. Darren Clarke carded a three-under-par 69 at a windy Shanghai Pudong Golf Club and is four-under overall, in outright third place, while Miles Tunnicliff is tied with O&aposMalley at three-under. Joint leader Derksen is also hopeful he can continue his impressive putting into the weekend as he looks to capture only his third victory on the circuit. “I was close to winning twice last year and was a bit unlucky,” he said. “My putting has been good this week and that is key and if I can continue then I should have a chance on Sunday.” Henrik Stenson, the highest-ranked player at the tournament, had started the day just one stroke off the top at four under par but struggled in the windy conditions to drop to level par overall, five shots off the pace. Australian duo Scott Hend and Marcus Fraser are well in contention at one-under, while compatriot Adam Blyth is one stroke further behind in a tie for 16th place. Veteran Australian Greg Norman upstaged many of his younger rivals and is tied with Blyth at level par after shooting an impressive second round of 73 in tricky conditions. Scores after the second round of the Asian Open: (par 72) -5: Robert Jan Derksen 70 69, Zhang Lian wei 70 69 -4: Darren Clarke 71 69 -3: Peter O&aposMalley (Australia) 67 74, Miles Tunnicliff 71 70 -2: Lin Wen tang 71 71, Liang Wen chong 71 71, Retief Goosen 72 70, Mark Brown (NZ) 75 67, Hu Mu 73 69, Oliver Wilson 68 74 -1: Li Chao 71 72, Scott Hend (Australia) 69 74, Robert Dinwiddie 70 73, Marcus Fraser (Australia) 70 73 E: Greg Norman (Australia) 71 73, Martin Kaymer 72 72, Carl Suneson 71 73, Mikael Lundberg 73 71, Adam Blyth (Australia) 74 70, Chris Rodgers 71 73, Jose Filipe Lima 70 74, Jean Francois Lucquin 74 70, Paul Broadhurst 71 73, Mikko Ilonen 68 76, Jeev Milkha Singh 68 76, Henrik Stenson 68 76, Michael Lorenzo Vera 75 69 Also +1: Richard Lee (NZ) 70 75 +2: Scott Barr (Australia) 72 74, David Gleeson (Australia) 73 73, Scott Strange (Australia) 71 75 +3: Marcus Both (Australia) 73 74, Michael Campbell (NZ) 71 76