Chacarra shrugs off lack of sleep to grab narrow lead at Volvo China Open

Eugenio Chacarra birdied three of his last four holes on Friday to take a narrow one-shot lead into the weekend at the Volvo China Open.

The Spaniard shrugged off a lack of sleep because of jet lag and a double-bogey at 18, his ninth hole of the day, to card a four-under-par 68 to move to nine-under for the International Series tournament.

China’s Zhang Huilin, who won this event in 2020, and Chen Guxin are a shot further back after rounds of 68 and 69, respectively, at Hidden Grace Golf Club in Shenzhen.

“I did a good job with my caddie on the second nine, focused shot by shot and I ended up playing well,” said Chacarra, who won the Asian Tour’s St Andrews Bay Championship in August.

“Nine under at the start of the tournament is good. Some work to do this afternoon on the range and check a few things with my coach but happy.”

All three might have expected to be trailing Jack Thompson by at least two shots, but the Australian paid for his late tee time, and after being on 11 under with six to play, dropped four shots in the fading light, finishing with a double-bogey on nine.

“I was probably rushing a bit because it was getting dark,” he said. “But I am playing well and looking forward to the next two days. I will learn from what happened today and come back stronger.”

Two groups were unable to finish their rounds, among them Hong Kong amateur Shen Wang-ngai, who was three-over with two holes to play, three shots off the cut line.

Compatriots Matthew Cheung and Jason Hak both also failed to make the weekend, ending their second rounds at one over.

Taichi Kho, meanwhile, put himself in a strong position, carding a three-under 69 in his second round to move to four under. The Hongkonger was on course for a better day, but a wild tee-shot at the par-5 17th resulted in a bogey.

Still, Kho said he was “really happy” with how he handled the situation after having to take an unplayable from the woods where his drive landed.

“I had a lot of good shots after that,” he said. “I missed a 6ft par, but pretty happy to get out of there with a six.”