Hoey and McGrane in cut danger in China
Felipe Aguilar. Picture: Getty Images
Michael Hoey and Damien McGrane need help from the field to make the cut in the weather delayed Volvo China Open
Hoey fired six birdies in a three under 69 to share 70th with McGrane, who had five birdies of his own in a level par 72.
At one under par, the irish pair are on shot outside the projected cut with half the field to complete their second rounds after play was suspended due to the threat of lightning.
At the top of the leaderboard, Chile’s Felipe Aguilar moved to the front, caring a flawless, seven under par 65 to take a one-shot lead before play was suspended at Topwin Golf and Country Club.
The 41 year old has struggled for form since competing in an ironman triathlon - which comprises a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bicycle ride and a 26.2-mile marathon - over the winter.
But was back to the kind of form which has earned him two career European Tour victories as he moved to 11 under and two ahead of Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger (69) and Alex Noren (67).
Kim Taehoon, meanwhile, carded the second hole-in-one of the tournament at the third hole - following Rikard Karlberg’s prize-winning ace at the 16th on the opening day – as a superb eight under 64 moved him into contention to become the second consecutive Korean winner on the European Tour.
He was joined on a nine under par total by Englishman Tyrrell Hatton and Dane Lucas Bjerregaard, who both carded rounds of 67, as well as two players who were still out on the course before the suspension - first round leader Hennie Otto, who was level par through 14, and Germany’s Marcel Siem, who was four under through 13.
Round two will restart at 6:45am local time on the third day of the Volvo China Open, while round three will not start before 10:00am.
Felipe Aguilar
“I played quite solid today, I don’t think I missed one green. I played quite consistently throughout my first two rounds so I’m quite happy. It’s been a tough start to the year so hopefully this will be a turnaround for me.
“I struggled with a couple of bad shots but I ended up being in the right spots on the right greens. This course is one of those ones where if you hit it to the wrong spots you’re really going to struggle.
“When I showed up here I fancied a good round but when I played the practice round I didn’t think I would do well. I think they’ve done a great job putting the pins in places you can play for them.
“I started pretty unstable at the start of the year. I missed several cuts by one or two shots and I wasn’t putting very well, missing shots that I usually don’t. I guess now I believe my doctors when they said I would struggle to recover my fitness from doing an ironman competition.
“They said I would struggle for about two months afterwards and I actually did because it’s such fine margin in this sport. I haven’t done much exercise in recuperating my body, but I have been doing a lot of work lately so hopefully this will do it.”
Alex Noren
“I played very steady, not fantastic off the tee or with my irons but I hit a lot of greens and putted well. I didn’t make many mistakes – it’s not the best I have played but I’m very happy with the round, I got it together nicely and I’m happy with the result.
“It’s easier in the mornings, with no wind. Yesterday there was a lot of wind and I hit a lot better shots – there are some tough holes when there is wind but today the course felt a little easier all along.
“I’m hitting it nicely – I haven’t even hit a draw yet but the fade is working. It’s always good when you’ve won before and it’s really nice to be up there. It was a while ago before Valderrama since I’ve been up there so it’s a nice feeling.”
Bernd Wiesberger
“I did feel relaxed out there. I played great golf yesterday and played really well in tough conditions so I was looking forward to getting out there tomorrow and trying to do the same.
“I played decent, I didn't play quite as well as yesterday, especially off the tee, I was not hitting it too good and I was really struggling with the pace of my putting early on - I left a lot of putts short.
“I couldn't quite score as well as yesterday but all in all I feel well on the golf course. I feel like I hit some good shots and took advantage of some of them. A good first two days.”
Kim Taehoon
“I played well and after I got the hole in one I became really confident and finished really well. The greens are not very fast so I mostly focussing on the break and I read them pretty well today.
“It was about 165 metres but the view from the tee, we couldn’t see the hole, only the top of the flag. I was aiming a little to the left of the pin and I just hit a seven iron, it was a beautiful shot and the galleries beside the green shouted out so that’s how I knew.”
