England’s David Howell shot the lowest round of his career, a nine under par 63, to move into the halfway lead of the TCL Classic at Yalong Bay Golf Club, Sanya, China.
The European Number One, hoping to maintain his 100 per cent record in China following his win in the HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai on his only previous visit to the country last November, is now the man to catch with Australian Andrew Buckle leading the chase.
Howell, the World Number 14, had the chance to go even lower and pen his name in the record books but he dropped a shot on his 17th, the eighth on the course, and then missed a five foot birdie putt on the last.
His 17 under par total of 127 nevertheless equalled the second lowest first 36 hole score in European Tour history, a score bettered only by Ernie Els in the 2004 Heineken Classic at Royal Melbourne. And with a round containing a staggering 11 birdies, he fell just one short of The European Tour record for the number of birdies in a round.
“I’m delighted really,” said Howell afterwards. “My caddie just gave me a telling off as I was a little disappointed to finish five, five. But I have just had my joint best score and my best score two days in a row so I have got to be happy. I had a lot of fun out there.”
Howell was certainly relaxed on the tropical island of Hainan in the South China Sea, hitting it close time and again and enjoyed a run of 12 single putts in a row. In total, he used his putter only 23 times and it looked as if an historic 59 might be on the cards.
“I did start to think about 59, a bit too early probably, but with three holes to go I had a reachable par four and eight and nine are both birdie holes so if I could have finished 2, 3, 4 , it was on. But I guess as soon as I dropped a shot on the third you are going to struggle to shoot 59 with a dropped shot.”
Howell, teeing off from the tenth, peppered the flag from the start, picking up six birdies in his first eight holes on his way to an outward half of 30. He then picked up another two shots immediately after the turn to lie eight under through 11 holes. Five of those eight birdies came as a result of some superb approaches with his lob wedge which his used to great effect whether chipping or pitching.
A bogey on the par three third, where he played a poor chip, briefly slowed his progress but he was back on track with another three birdies in his next four holes. His second slip came at the eighth hole when his well struck eight iron came up short and he played a second poor chip of the round, his ball running eight feet past and he missed the return. Although he failed to birdie the last his lead held firm throughout the day.
“The aim is to win the tournament as it was at the start of the week,” added Howell. “I will still need a couple of low scores to win. A 22 under total won last year and the weather has been kinder this year so you are looking nearer 25 under. That’s two 68s which I have shown I can do but it is going to be a case of keep playing as I am and press on. I am still going to have to shoot some low numbers.”
Buckle heads the chasing pack in the event jointly sanctioned by The European Tour and the Asian Tour, continuing the good form which helped him come so close to winning the Enjoy Jakarta HSBC Indonesia Open a fortnight ago. On that occasion Buckle ran up an eight having just got his nose in front during the final round and was beaten into second by England’s Simon Dyson.
“It gives you that little extra confidence knowing you can be in with a chance to win a tournament,” said Buckle, who played junior golf with Adam Scott. “Simon, who beat me that week, played very well. When I played with him he didn’t make any mistakes and that is what you have to do. Especially out here, if you make a bogey you are going to go backwards. I need to just try not to make too many mistakes.”
Challenge Tour graduates Ariel Canete and Daniel Vancsik from Argentina and Qualifying School graduate Warren Abery are also well in the frame lying four shots off the pace on 13 under par alongside first round leader Edward Loar of America, who bogeyed three of his last four holes.
Defending champion Paul Casey and Nick Dougherty of England, both of whom need to win to have a chance of getting in the World’s top 50 and thereby qualifying for next week’s Players Championship and subsequent Masters Tournament, posted rounds of 67 and 68 respectively to lie in the group on 11 under par.
“I think four under on the front nine was just about the worst I could have shot,” said Casey. “I had lots of putts which horseshoed, two complete horseshoes from three feet on the front side. A couple of other short putts which missed so very disappointed with four under.
“I hope Howler does slow down but he is leading the Order of Merit for a reason and he is 14th in the World for a reason. He is going to be very tough to beat from the position he is in.”
Paul McGinley fired a seven under par 65 to advance to 10 under par 134 and needs something exceptional over the weekend if he is to go one better than his runners-up finish last year.
