Monty moves into Hong Kong Open
picture with a vintage 65

PRESS RELEASE ISSUED BY ASIAN TOUR
Thailand’s Chawalit Plaphol nailed his second straight four-under-par 66 and was joined by South African Louis Oosthuizen, England’s Oliver Wilson and Oliver Fisher at the top of the pack at the UBS Hong Kong Open today.
Chawalit struck five birdies against a lone bogey in the second round at the Hong Kong Golf Club for an eight-under-par 132 total. He was matched by Oosthuizen who enjoyed a bogey free 62, Wilson who fired a 66 alongside Fisher who improved with a 65.
Colin Montgomerie and Sweden’s Johan Edfors were a stroke back when the duo shot matching 65s in joint fifth place. Australia’s Marcus Fraser also leaped to a tie for fifth spot after a 66 together with Richard Sterne of South Africa who posted a 69 and Italian Francesco Molinari who carded a 67.
India’s Jeev Milkha Singh, who virtually sealed the 2008 Asian Tour’s Order of Merit after his win in Singapore last week, blasted a 63 to lie in joint 10th place together with Chinese Taipei’s Lin Wen-tang who recorded a 69 for a 134 total. China’s Liang Wen-chong endured a slow 71 and was in the mix in 13th spot after a 135 total.
Chawalit, who is a two-time winner on the Asian Tour, relied on his accurate drives to steer him through to the top of the pack in the US$2.5 million event.
“I tried to not use my driver. I did not play too aggressive. I wanted to make sure that I could be on the green so I could have a chance at making those birdies,” said the Chonburi-based player. Chawalit was pleased to have turned his game around this week since his top-10 finish at the Worldwide Selangor Masters in August.
“I have not been having a good run on the Asian Tour so this is definitely turning out to be a great week. There is a lot of pressure to perform but I will try my best for a strong finish,” added Chawalit.
Starting on the back nine, Oosthuizen, 26, was four under after nine holes before three straight birdies coupled with a final birdie on the seventh hole placed him in prime position heading into the weekend rounds.
“It was good. 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,” said Oosthuizen, with three wins on the local circuit.
Ryder Cup star Wilson, who teed off on the back nine, endured a bogey on the final hole before closing in with a 66.
“I was really happy with yesterday, four under, but today I was a little disappointed bogeying the last hole. I played pretty steady holing some putts, which is the important thing,” said Wilson.
Fisher improved with a 65 and was in the mix at the top of the field.
“I just played really solid today. I hit the ball well and hit a lot of greens and took my chances. It was good. I'm in a good position going into the weekend and just go out there and enjoy it and have good time,” said Fisher.
Montgomerie, with a record 31 wins in Europe, was pleased with his 65 while a stroke back was Singh who conquered the greens at the Hong Kong Golf Club this week.
“The putting came together. Yesterday I hit the ball exactly the same but couldn't hole too many putts. But I’m really excited. I worked on it yesterday and got a little bit of feel on the greens. I went out there and holed some big putts, and I think that was the reason I shot a 63 today,” said Singh, who was the 2006 Asian Tour’s Order of Merit winner.
“I am mentally very tired, but after this round, I think that I start thinking about other things and as the weekend comes, I think the mental tiredness is going to go. I think I've got to start thinking about good things and hopefully have a good week again,” he added.
Local amateur Jason Hak Shun Yat emerged as the second youngest player to make the cut on the Asian Tour at 14 years and 304 days. He fired two straight 70s and was in a tie for 61st place. Chinese Taipei’s Lo Shih-kai was the youngest player to have ever made the weekend rounds at 14 years and 275 days back in 2003.
Defending champion Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain was also in a tie for 61st place after a 69.
LEADING SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 140 (2 x 70)
132 Oliver Wilson 66 66, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 70 62, Chawalit Plaphol (Tha) 66 66, Oliver Fisher 67 65
133 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 66 67, Colin Montgomerie 68 65, Johan Edfors (Swe) 68 65, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 67 66, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 64 69
134 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 71 63, Rory McIlroy 70 64, Wen-Tang Lin (Tai) 65 69
135 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 69 66, Wen-chong Liang (Chn) 64 71
136 John Daly (USA) 68 68, Bernhard Langer (Ger) 69 67, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 68 68, Iain Steel (Mal) 68 68, Angelo Que (Phi) 68 68, Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha) 70 66, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 69 67
137 Frankie Minoza (Phi) 65 72, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 69 68, David Frost (Rsa) 69 68, Kyung-Tae Kim (Kor) 70 67, Wen Teh Lu (Tpe) 68 69, Peter Hanson (Swe) 67 70, Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa) 69 68, Artemio-hiromasa Murakami (Phi) 67 70, Ter-Chang Wang (Tpe) 66 71, Darren Beck (Aus) 68 69, David Gleeson (Aus) 72 65, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 70 67, Martin Rominger (Swi) 71 66, Mardan Mamat (Sin) 70 67, Tony Carolan (Aus) 70 67, David Dixon 68 69
138 Gareth Maybin 71 67, Jamie Donaldson 75 63, Scott Drummond 68 70, Wook-Soon Kang (Kor) 69 69, Chinarat Phadungsil (Tha) 67 71, David Bransdon (Aus) 70 68, Gavin Flint (Aus) 68 70, David Lynn 71 67
139 Wei Chih Lu (Tha) 70 69, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 67 72, Graeme McDowell 71 68, Anders Hansen (Den) 71 68, Scott Strange (Aus) 71 68, Ben Leong (Mal) 69 70, Unho Park (Aus) 71 68, Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 69 70, Taichiro Kiyota (Jpn) 72 67, Taco Remkes (Ned) 69 70, Paul Lawrie 69 70, Phillip Archer 72 67, Jong Yul Suk (Kor) 70 69, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 71 68, Bradley Dredge 69 70
140 Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 70 70, Zaw Moe (Kor) 72 68, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 70 70, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 71 69, Anthony Kang (USA) 70 70, Anthony Wall 72 68, Juvic Pagunsan (Phi) 70 70, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 71 69, Shun yat jason Hak (Hkg) 70 70, Joong Kyung Mo (Kor) 69 71, Sattaya Supupramai (Tha) 71 69, Antonio Lascuna (Phi) 70 70, Gaurav Ghei (Ind) 71 69, Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 71 69, David Horsey 70 70, Paul Waring 72 68, Mark Brown (USA) 70 70, Marcus Both (Aus) 68 72, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 71 69, Jean Van de velde (Fra) 73 67, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 71 69, Paul McGinley 71 69
MISSED THE CUT
141 Christian Cevaer (Fra) 69 72, Young-Woo Nam (Kor) 69 72, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 72 69, Mars Pucay (Phi) 72 69, Chris Rodgers 68 73, Scott Hend (Aus) 70 71, Rahil Gangjee (Ind) 68 73, Chapchai Nirat (Tha) 68 73, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 70 71
142 Nick Faldo 72 70, Simon Dyson 71 71, Simon Khan 74 68, Paul Broadhurst 72 70, Lee Slattery 70 72, Sung Lee (Kor) 75 67, Hendrik Buhrmann (Rsa) 71 71, Rick Kulacz (Aus) 67 75, Keith Horne (Rsa) 73 69, Richard Lee (Can) 76 66
143 Inn-choon Hwang (Kor) 68 75, Airil Rizman (Mal) 70 73, Phillip Price 71 72, Chih-bing Lam (Sin) 72 71, Scott Barr (Aus) 71 72, Arjun Atwal (Ind) 74 69, Sam Little 71 72, Gregory Havret (Fra) 72 71
144 Robert Rock 73 71, Stephen Scahill (Nzl) 73 71, Markus Brier (Aut) 71 73, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 73 71, Simon Griffiths 70 74, Simon Hurd 72 72
145 Gary Simpson (Aus) 71 74, Steve Webster 74 71, Amandeep Johl (Ind) 70 75, Marcel Siem (Ger) 74 71, Mark Foster 72 73, Simon Wakefield 74 71
146 Yasin Ali 70 76, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 72 74, Lian-Wei Zhang (Chn) 72 74, Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 78 68, Keng-chi Lin (Tai) 71 75
147 Prom Meesawat (Tha) 74 73, Roderick De Lacy Staunton (Hkg) 70 77, Jovick Lee (Hkg) 79 68, Adam Groom (Aus) 74 73
148 Daniel Chopra (Swe) 71 77, Michael Jonzon (Swe) 72 76, Matthew McBain (Aus) 75 73, Steven Lam (Hkg) 74 74, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind) 74 74, Miles Tunnicliff 73 75, David Freeman (Hkg) 74 74
149 Thammanoon Srirot (Tha) 74 75, Adam Blyth (Aus) 73 76
150 Digvijay Singh (Ind) 73 77
151 Paul Riley 76 75
157 Derek Fung (Hkg) 78 79
161 James Stewart 78 83