Oosthuizen blitzes 62 to share Hong Kong lead
HONG KONG (Reuters) - South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen fired a sizzling eight-under 62 to grab a share of the lead after the second round at the $2.5 million Hong Kong Open on Friday.
The 26-year-old Oosthuizen carded eight birdies in a near-flawless round to finish a stroke shy of the course record and join Britons Oliver Wilson and Oliver Fisher, and Chawalit Plaphol of Thailand, on 132.
"Yeah, it was good. It could have been -- I don't want to say it could have been more, but I played well. I hit 17 greens in regulation and I made some putts," Oosthuizen told reporters.
Wilson notched up six birdies on the way to a four-under 66, but squandered the outright lead with a bogey on the last.
"I was really happy with yesterday, four-under, but today I was little disappointed with bogeying the last," the 28-year-old said.
After losing a play-off to Spain's Sergio Garcia at the $5 million HSBC Champions in Shanghai last week to finish runner-up for the eighth time in his career, Wilson said he would try to keep the near-misses from his mind over the weekend.
"I won't be walking down the last few holes thinking, oh, I'm going to finish second again, because you will probably finish about fourth or fifth," he said.
After carding a patient first-round 68, eight-time European number one Colin Montgomerie attacked the greens with gusto on Friday, dropping a single stroke on the way to a six-birdie 65 to lie a shot off the pace.
"I can gain some confidence from that, knowing that I can achieve what I think I can," the 45-year-old Scotsman said.
Montgomerie, whose form woes have seen him tumble out of the world top 100 this year, joined Swede Johan Edfors, Australian Marcus Fraser, round one joint leader Richard Sterne of South Africa and Italy's Francesco Molinari in the clubhouse on 133.
Lin Wen-tang of Taiwan and Indian number one Jeev Milkha Singh lie two strokes off the leaders with Britain's Rory McIlroy on 134.
Twice former major champion John Daly, now ranked 788th in the world, remains in striking distance of the leaders two strokes further off the pace in a clutch of players including Germany's Bernhard Langer and Thaworn Wiratchant of Thailand.
Six-times major champion Nick Faldo will miss the weekend's action after carding a scratchy even-par round of 70 to finish on 142, two strokes behind the cut.
(Writing by Ian Ransom; editing by Miles Evans)
