Jan Schneider will take a one-stroke lead into the weekend of the Hainan Open after carding a three under par second round of 69 at Sanya Luhuitou Golf Club.
The German, who shared the lead overnight after a seven under par 65 on day one, moved into the outright lead on ten under par for the week, one clear of Dutchman Lars van Meijel who occupies solo second.
Schneider, starting on the tenth, kicked off day two with three birdies in his first five holes before dropping a shot on the par four 15th. After holing a 60 foot eagle putt on 18, Schneider mixed two bogeys with a birdie coming in to set the pace at the halfway stage.
“I am very pleased,” he said. “The golf course was playing easier today but it’s still a solid day’s work and to be ten under after two days, I’ll take that.
“My long irons were really good today, but I struggled a little bit with the shorter clubs. I also made a 60 footer on 18 for eagle which was pretty cool.
“I made a couple of silly mistakes out there today, but it didn’t really bother me that much and I did a good job of remaining level-headed throughout the round.”
Schneider is aiming to become the first China Tour player to win on the Road to Mallorca since Zhengkai Bai tasted victory at the Foshan Open six years ago.
The 27-year-old will tee it up in the final group on Saturday and is relishing the chance to compete for a maiden professional victory in Sanya, and, in turn, HotelPlanner Tour playing privileges for the 2026 season.
“I am very excited,” he added. “It’s my first time leading an event after two days, so I am excited to see what happens over the weekend.
“I will try and enjoy the situation tomorrow. Expectations-wise, I will just try and hit one shot at a time and see where I’m at.”
German Anton Albers, who fired a low-round-of-week eight under 64 earlier in the day, shares third place alongside Spaniard Rocco Repetto Taylor, Swede Per Längfors and Italian Stefano Mazzoli on eight under par.
Austrian Maximilian Steinlechner is two shots further back on six under par. Belgian duo Matthis Besard and James Meyer de Beco, Hong Kong’s Isaac Lam, Italian Renato Paratore, Scotsman David Law, China’s Charles Wang, Swede Robin Petersson and Spain’s Sebastian Garcia sit at five under.
The third round of the Hainan Open gets under way at 8:10am with Schneider teeing off alongside Van Meijel and Albers at 10:00am.
