Scot Drysdale sharing third place at 

KLM Open

Ashun Wu extended his overnight advantage at the top of the leaderboard by carding a second round of 66 to lead by three at the halfway stage of the KLM Open.

The Chinese player, who is a two-time winner on the European Tour, followed up an excellent opening round of 64 by carding seven further birdies today en route to a five under par score of 66.

Wu, who began the day with a one-shot advantage over Chris Wood, was again in fine form at The Dutch and sits three clear of his nearest challenger Jonathan Thomson of England after 36 holes.

Thomson, who is a European Tour rookie after coming through Qualifying School last year, found himself seven under par after nine holes thanks to a sublime stretch of six consecutive gains which saw him reach the turn in 29.

The 22 year old would eventually sign for a seven under par score of 64 – the joint lowest round of the week at The Dutch.

One shot further back from Thomson are Scotland’s David Drysdale and China’s Haotong Li. Drysdale, who currently sits in 118^th place in the Race to Dubai, reeled off six gains for a blemish-free 65 while Li birdied his final two holes to go into the weekend with a chance of becoming the first Chinese winner of the KLM Open, along with countryman Wu.

Player Quotes:

Ashun Wu: “I had a very good start today. After two birdies on the first two holes I knew that my good feeling from yesterday was still there and I felt I could go on and make a lot more birdies.

“The wind came into play today and although it was not very strong it was still making it a lot more difficult. I really like the golf course here and its design so I am really enjoying this week.

“If the wind blows hard tomorrow it make things very tricky for us but if it stays still then you will have to go out and keep being aggressive and make lots of birdies.”

Jonathan Thomson: “It was a phenomenal start really. I rolled in a 40-footer for birdie on the first, I got up and down on the next, then it was just flowing.

“It got a little bit trickier on the back nine as the wind got up a little bit and then I made a couple of silly decisions out there. Having that front nine it’s inevitable as you can’t just be a robot for 18 holes.

“This is a fantastic course to play. I would go as far as saying it is in as good a condition as any course that we’ve played on Tour this year.

“I am hitting some great form and playing well, confidence is also getting higher and higher and that’s all that matters to me at this part of the season.

“Experiences like I had in Denmark are invaluable and every single week you have to go out and just draw on them.”

David Drysdale: “I don’t really look at the rankings as I’ve been there a few times before. I know guys like to study it but I don’t really like to think about it.

“I haven’t played fantastic this season, I know that, but you keep working hard and you always think that there is some good golf coming around the corner.

“I actually played lovely yesterday but I missed a lot of opportunities. I was a little bit frustrated to only be a couple under, so it was great today to see the putts drop.

“My ball-striking and my iron play have been a real strength today – I hit a lot of greens. My putting has been pretty solid too but it is my iron play that has really been the difference.

“In the last couple of weeks there has been some good stuff and I am looking forward to the weekend.”

Haotong Li: “I am very happy after today as it was tough out there. Compared to the morning it was a lot windier and cold so I am very pleased with how I managed to finish the round today.

“The back nine is a lot tougher when the wind picks up here. Holes number ten, 11 and 12 were very hard with the wind and how I handled that stretch today was great.

“I have been struggling with my game over the last few weeks but it seems to be coming together this week. Hopefully I will have a low weekend.

“It is great to have me and Ashun at the top of the leaderboard – it would be great to see more of the China flag at the top of the leaderboard in the future.”

Scores after Round Two:
par 142 (2x71)

130 A Wu (Chn) 64 66,
133 J Thomson (Eng) 69 64,
134 H Li (Chn) 68 66, D Drysdale (Sco) 69 65,
135 B Hebert (Fra) 66 69, C Wood (Eng) 65 70, S Lee (Kor) 68 67,
136 R Paratore (Ita) 66 70,
137 B Neil (Sco) 66 71, M Kaymer (Ger) 70 67, B Dredge (Wal) 70 67, J Wang (Kor) 67 70, P Larrazábal (Esp) 68 69, J Smith (Eng) 66 71, A Pavan (Ita) 66 71, A Levy (Fra) 69 68, M Baldwin (Eng) 70 67, P Peterson (USA) 68 69, A Dodt (Aus) 71 66, A Chesters (Eng) 66 71,
138 J Campillo (Esp) 69 69, M Kieffer (Ger) 67 71, W Ormsby (Aus) 70 68, H Tanihara (Jpn) 68 70, G Coetzee (RSA) 69 69, E Pepperell (Eng) 66 72, P Harrington (Irl) 68 70, S Horsfield (Eng) 69 69, F Aguilar (Chi) 70 68, H Porteous (RSA) 67 71, R McEvoy (Eng) 67 71, M Southgate (Eng) 66 72, N Bertasio (Ita) 66 72, A Connelly (Can) 68 70, D Im (USA) 72 66,
139 J Scrivener (Aus) 66 73, A Sullivan (Eng) 71 68, R Gonzalez (Arg) 67 72, S Kjeldsen (Den) 66 73, E Van Rooyen (RSA) 73 66, C Syme (Sco) 69 70, M Korhonen (Fin) 68 71, J Choi (Kor) 69 70, A Bland (Aus) 69 70, L Westwood (Eng) 68 71, M Manassero (Ita) 67 72, S Webster (Eng) 69 70, M Nixon (Eng) 67 72, H Sturehed (Swe) 67 72,
140 D Fichardt (RSA) 69 71, J Guerrier (Fra) 69 71, M Albertus (Ned) 69 71, C Koepka (USA) 69 71, J Van Zyl (RSA) 67 73, R Bland (Eng) 70 70, J Edfors (Swe) 70 70, L Herbert (Aus) 70 70, M Jordan (Eng) 70 70, S Brazel (Aus) 69 71, K Stadler (USA) 66 74,
141 S Heisele (Ger) 73 68, R Ramsay (Sco) 68 73, M Reynolds (Ned) 73 68, N Colsaerts (Bel) 74 67, G Bourdy (Fra) 70 71, T Detry (Bel) 74 67, D Horsey (Eng) 69 72, J Kruyswijk (RSA) 70 71, S Jamieson (Sco) 73 68, J Walters (RSA) 69 72, A Otaegui (Esp) 69 72, J Geary (Nzl) 72 69, S Khan (Eng) 70 71, G Havret (Fra) 68 73

MISSED THE CUT
142 S Chawrasia (Ind) 70 72, M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 70 72, F Zanotti (Par) 72 70, A Johnston (Eng) 74 68, S Gros (Fra) 69 73, N Cullen (Aus) 70 72, R Fox (Nzl) 70 72, A Rai (Eng) 66 76, P Hanson (Swe) 71 71, M Schwab (Aut) 71 71, P Dunne (Irl) 70 72, J Morrison (Eng) 69 73, P Oriol (Esp) 67 75,
143 R Wattel (Fra) 72 71, M Pavon (Fra) 70 73, M Tullo (Chi) 71 72, L Jensen (Den) 71 72, G Green (Mas) 69 74, R Cho (Kor) 74 69, C Bezuidenhout (RSA) 71 72, P Angles (Esp) 71 72, J Ji (am) (Ned) 70 73,
144 C Hanson (Eng) 71 73, N Elvira (Esp) 68 76, D Porsius (Ned) 74 70, P Widegren (Swe) 70 74, P Waring (Eng) 74 70, E Molinari (Ita) 75 69, A Cañizares (Esp) 69 75, R Saxton (Ned) 73 71, S Fernandez (Esp) 69 75, R Jacquelin (Fra) 72 72, C Sordet (Fra) 74 70, G Fernandez - Castaño (Esp) 69 75, R Evans (Eng) 72 72, C Ford (Eng) 71 73, T Jaidee (Tha) 71 73, K Kouwenaar (am) (Ned) 74 70,
145 L Canter (Eng) 72 73, Z Lombard (RSA) 76 69, S Sharma (Ind) 73 72, J Lagergren (Swe) 70 75, D Howell (Eng) 73 72, L Joy (Eng) 72 73, R Gouveia (Por) 75 70,
146 O Fisher (Eng) 69 77, J Winther (Den) 72 74, K Aphibarnrat (Tha) 72 74, S Brown (Eng) 69 77, P Khongwatmai (Tha) 67 79, O Farr (Wal) 71 75,
147 R Fisher (Eng) 77 70,
148 J Van Der Vaart (Ned) 72 76, J Elson (Eng) 74 74, L Euler (am) (Ger) 75 73,
149 L Cianchetti (Ita) 75 74, Ó Serna (Mex) 73 76, R Van West (Ned) 73 76, A Cabrera (Arg) 73 76, Y Miyazato (Jpn) 74 75, M Siem (Ger) 70 79,
150 K Koivu (Fin) 73 77, C Blomstrand (Swe) 77 73,
151 D Lipsky (USA) 80 71, R Miller (Ned) 72 79, K Van Der Weele (am) (Ned) 77 74,
152 M Warren (Sco) 76 76, T Pulkkanen (Fin) 77 75, D Boshart (Ned) 76 76,
154 J Norris (Aus) 70 84, S Dyson (Eng) 74 80,
156 A Quiros (Esp) 78 78,
162 M Bosch (Ned) 80 82,
163 S Kraai (am) (Ned) 78 85,
169 A Verdonk (am) (Ned) 83 86,
** J Dantorp (Swe) 72 RT, B Rumford (Aus) 78 WD, M Ilonen (Fin) 82 WD, A Saddier (Fra) 72 RT, D Brooks (Eng) 71 RT, M Foster (Eng) 70 WD, S Hend (Aus) RT 0,