April 25, 2008: Zhang Lianwei had the Shanghai crowd in raptures as he shot a three-under-par 69 to join Dutchman Robert-Jan Derksen at the top of the leaderboard at the halfway stage of the US$2.3 million BMW Asian Open.

The Chinese legend birdied the final hole to go to five-under and one stroke clear of Ryder Cup hero Darren Clarke on the second day of the star-studded event, which is sanctioned by the Asian Tour, European Tour and China Golf Association.

On a great day for the local players and home fans, teenage prodigy Hu Mu shot a 69 while his famous practice partner Liang Wenchong secured a second 71 to both go two-under and tie for sixth with two-time US Open champion Retief Goosen among others.

Furthermore, Li Chao, an eight-time winner on the Omega China Tour, shot a 72 at the Tomson Shanghai Pudong Golf Club to remain at one-under, one ahead of a large group tied for 16th including Australian Greg Norman and India’s Jeev Milkha Singh.

Zhang, who won the Omega China Tour’s season-opening Guangzhou Championship and finished runner-up in the Dell Championship, continued his rapid return to form after missing the cut in last week’s Volvo China Open, an event he won in 2003.

The 42-year-old parred the first 10 holes at Tomson before bagging back-to-back birdies, which he added to at the par-four 18th.

“This week, I’ve been very confident about my putting. My three birdies on the back nine were all because I putted well. I’m also saving par very well this week and I’m proud that I had no bogeys today,” said Zhang, who has 18-year-old amateur James Su Dong carrying his bag for the second week.

“It’s great that there are four Chinese players in the top-15 after two rounds. This is the first time we’ve had so many Chinese players near the top at this event. Hu Mu’s performance is especially impressive, as it’s not easy as an amateur,” he added.

The 18-year-old Hu, who has played the first three events on this year’s Omega China Tour, showed both character and quality to recover from an opening bogey at the par-four 10th and fire five birdies over his next nine holes.

Although his progress was halted by a bogey at the par-five second, the Florida-based amateur parred the remaining seven holes to join a high-quality leaderboard.

“Today, 69 is fine, although I'm disappointed with my bogies. On the par-five second, I three-putted and I really think I should avoid that kind of mistake. However, it helps to be familiar with the course, as it's the third time I’ve played this event,” said Hu, who missed the cut in 2006 and 2007.

Big-hitting Yuan Hao, sixth on last year’s Omega Order of Merit, was the next-best among the 18-strong Chinese contingent, but missed the cut by one stroke after a second successive 74.