Lukas Nemecz will take a two-stroke lead into the weekend of the Hangzhou Open after posting a six under par second round of 66 at Hangzhou West Lake Golf Club.
The Austrian, who started the day two shots off the lead made six birdies, two bogeys and one eagle to move to 13 under par for the week and leads by two from Spaniard Sebastian Garcia.
Nemecz was happy to take advantage of perfect scoring conditions for the second successive day in China.
“I am very happy with my first two rounds,” he said. “Seven under yesterday and six under today, it’s great.
“I’ve been really good on the par fives so took my chances there, hitting three of them under regulation. It’s a golf course where you need to be good in every department and so far, I’ve been happy with my game.
“There are four par fives that are kind of reachable where you need to hit good three woods from the fairway. These holes make a big difference. The key this week is to be good on the par fives.”
The highlight of the 36-year-old’s round came on the par four 14th, where he holed out from the fairway for eagle and Nemecz was delighted to gain ground on one of Hangzhou West Lake Golf Club’s toughest holes.
“It was a bit bonus nearly making a two on such a tough hole,” he added.
“It’s a tough hole. I hit a good two iron off the tee which was defensive and then I almost slam dunked my seven iron which was very nice.”
Nemecz is currently ranked 30th in the season-long Road to Mallorca Rankings, with the top 20 set to earn promotion to the DP World Tour following the Rolex Grand Final supported by The R&A later this month.
The Austrian last played on Golf’s Global Tour in 2023, and with additional points available at this week’s event, is looking to boost his chances of promotion in the penultimate tournament of the season.
“The Rankings are definitely on my mind for sure,” he added.
“The goal is to get back on the DP World Tour and there’s still two chances left, with one this week. I am delighted with my position after two rounds. I’ll have to keep playing well but it will be nice to get some big points this week.
“I’ve been playing well since the break in the summer. My form is good, and I am hitting the ball nicely. I won’t change too much over the weekend; I am in a great situation and that’s where I want to be.”
Peru’s Julian Perico, Spaniard Victor Pastor, Swede Albin Bergstrom, Frenchman Clement Charmasson, China’s Jin Bo, English pair Tom Lewis and James Morrison and South African duo Wilco Nienaber and Bryce Easton share third place on ten under par.
The third round of the Hangzhou Open gets under way at 8:44am local time with Nemecz teeing off alongside Easton and Garcia at 10:45am.
