HSBC CHAMPIONS TOURNAMENT

RICHIE RAMSAY: Rounds of 69 and 68 in HSBC Champions Tournament in China.

Richie Ramsay sharing third place in Shanghai

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE

Francesco Molinari maintained his slender lead over World Number One Lee Westwood at the World Golf Championships - HSBC Champions with a second round 70 today.

The Italian was not in the same scintillating form as on Thursday, when he posted a seven under 65, but his two under par round was enough to hold on to a one stroke lead at the halfway stage.

The Ryder Cup star holed a 15 footer at the fourth for birdie after an early gain at the second and was three under for the day when he picked up another shot at the seventh.

But he bogeyed the ninth to turn in 34 and saw another shot dropped when his tee shot found the bunker at the par three 12th and he failed to get up and down.

Searching for a first European Tour title in four years, Molinari responded at the par five 14th with an approach to five feet and birdied to complete his scoring and sit nine under par after two rounds.

Westwood continued to display the consistent form that has helped him end Tiger Woods' five-year reign as World Number One.

The Englishman also recorded a two under par 70, holing a six foot birdie putt on the eighth after seven consecutive pars.

He then rescued par from 15 feet on the ninth, but a wild drive down the left on the 11th did cost him a bogey.

But like Molinari, he hit his approach close at the 14th and birdied before almost chipping in for eagle at the short par four 16th, eventually tapping in for a simple birdie.
"The course played a little bit tougher than yesterday and the flags were a little bit trickier," said the 37 year old. "I putted fairly nicely - not as well as yesterday, but all in all I'm pleased with 70.

"Eight under is a decent score and I've obviously got a chance going into the weekend."

Aberdeen's Richie Ramsay moved into a share of third with a four under 68 to sit level with South African pair Ernie Els and Jaco Van Zyl on seven under.
Els, seeking a second WGC title of the year, cleared the water with his second shot at the par five 18th, and then rolled a beautiful 40 putt to within a foot of the hole for the simplest of birdies and a best-of-the day 65.
Colin Farquharson writes: The 27-year-old Ramsay has had nine birdies and two bogeys over the first 36 holes. He birdied the long second, fifth and seventh on his way to an outward half of 33. His only bogey on the second day came at the 11th but he finished on a high with further birdies at the 16th and long 18th.

If it was a joy day for one of the two Aberdonians in the field, it certainly wasn't for the other - 26-year-old born Granite-City born Aussie Michael Sim, pictured left. He had a disastrous second-round 79 (his highest 18-hole score of the year) for 151 and is 16 shots off the pace. Sim turned in two-over-38 with a birdie at the third but a double bogey 6 at the seventh and a bogey at the ninth.
The inward nine cost him 41 shots, five over par. He had a bogey at the 11th, a double bogey 6 at the 15th before getting only his second birdie of the day at the 16th. His cup of woe overflowed at the short 17th which cost Sim a triple bogey 6.  

SECOND ROUND TOTALS
International GC, Shanghai, China
Par 144 (2x72)
135 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 65 70

136 Lee Westwood 66 70
137 Richie Ramsay 69 68, Ernie Els (Rsa) 72 65, Jaco Van Zyl (Rsa) 71 66
138 Luke Donald 68 70
139 Seung-yul Noh (Kor) 67 72, Ross Fisher 69 70
140 Nick Watney (USA) 72 68, Tiger Woods (USA) 68 72, Phil Mickelson (USA) 69 71, Richard S Johnson (Swe) 70 70, Robert Allenby (Aus) 72 68, Richard Green (Aus) 72 68, Ian Poulter 70 70, Padraig Harrington 70 70, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 69 71
141 Ryan Palmer (USA) 69 72, Matteo Manassero (Ita) 71 70, Andrew Dodt (Aus) 73 68, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 72 69, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 71 70, Pablo Martin (Spa) 68 73, Kyung-Tae Kim (Kor) 72 69, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 67 74
142 Peter Hanson (Swe) 73 69, Rory McIlroy 71 71, Ben Crane (USA) 71 71, Adam Scott (Aus) 69 73, Yuta Ikeda (Jpn) 67 75, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 72 70, Tim Clark (Rsa) 72 70
143 Heath Slocum (USA) 71 72, Ryo Ishikawa (Jpn) 72 71, Hunter Mahan (USA) 70 73, Bill Haas (USA) 72 71, K J Choi (Kor) 72 71, Tetsuji Hiratsuka (Jpn) 72 71, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 72 71, Y.E. Yang (Kor) 69 74
144 Katsumasa Miyamoto (Jpn) 69 75, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 71 73, Arjun Atwal (Ind) 73 71, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 70 74, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 74 70, Paul Casey 73 71
145 Michio Matsumura (Jpn) 71 74, Anders Hansen (Den) 71 74, Graeme McDowell 74 71, David Horsey 71 74, Rhys Davies 75 70, Darren Fichardt (Rsa) 73 72, Anthony Kim (USA) 73 72, Camilo Villegas (Col) 75 70, Rickie Fowler (USA) 71 74, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 72 73
146 Danny Willett 77 69
147 Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 73 74, Jason Bohn (USA) 72 75
148 Brendan Jones (Aus) 76 72, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 72 76
149 Alistair Presnell (Aus) 74 75, Shunsuke Sonoda (Jpn) 72 77, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 69 80, Simon Khan 76 73
150 Bill Lunde (USA) 78 72, Hiroyuki Fujita (Jpn) 75 75
151 Michael Sim (Aus) 72 79, Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha) 75 76, Mardan Mamat (Sin) 75 76
152 Kang-Chun Wu (Chn) 75 77, Liang Wen-Chong (Chn) 79 73, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 74 78
153 Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Tha) 78 75
154 Pariya Junhasavasdikul (Tha) 74 80, Hao Yuan (Chn) 79 75
158 Li Chao (Chn) 79 79.

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MANASSERO IS EURO TOUR GOLFER OF THE MONTH

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE EUROPEAN TOUR

Italian teenage sensation Matteo Manassero, pictured below by courtesy of Getty Images, has won The European Tour Race to Dubai Golfer of the Month award for October following his victory in the Castello Masters, which rewrote the record books.

His superb tally of 16 under par 268, which featured all four rounds in the 60s, saw him win his maiden Tour title by four shots and in the process become the youngest winner in European Tour history at 17 years and 188 days, beating the previous record of New Zealander Danny Lee who claimed the 2009 Johnnie Walker Classic aged 18 years and 213 days.

 Notably his win – for which he receives an engraved alms dish and a magnum of Moët and Chandon champagne – also saw Manassero become the youngest person to become a full European Tour Member, eclipsing the legendary Severiano Ballesteros who was 17 years and 200 days when he became a full Member at the end of the 1974 season.