Veteran Michael Long rekindled some of the magic of his past to take the second round lead in the $1 million Nanshan China Masters on Friday.
The 42-year-old carded a five-under-par 67 for a two round total of seven under par at Nanshan International Golf Club’s Danling Cuiyuan Course.
He leads by a stroke from Australians Andres Stolz and Scott Laycock. Stolz, winner of the season opening Indonesia PGA Championship on OneAsia, fired a 68 while Laycock shot 67.
One stroke further back is Australian Terry Pilkadaris who came in with a 68.
In an inspired performance 15 year old amateur Li Haotong from China shot a 71 to lie three under for the tournament in a tie for 13th place.
Long was once the golden boy of golf in New Zealand who won the New Zealand Open in 1996 and the Greg Norman Invitational three years later. He also claimed titles on the Nationwide Tour in the United States in 2001 and 2003.
He made an eagle, four birdies and dropped one shot to put himself in a strong position to push for the winner’s cheque of $180,000. His last win came in the Western Australian PGA Championship in 2008.
“It has not been too long since I last won. The memories and emotions are still there. I will feel nervous going into the weekend but it would be wrong not to be,” added Long.
Stolz carded a bogey free round with four birdies. It was a fine round considering he played in the morning when strong winds forced play to be suspended for two hours.
“It was a crazy morning with that wind. It actually felt quite dangerous having a putt on the putting green this morning,” he said.
“I hit two really good shots down the 10th hole to start and I made a great eight foot putt which just put me in a good mood.”
The Australian is currently ranked second on the OneAsia Order of Merit and can overtake front runner Kim Kyung-tae from Korea by winning this week.
A total of 30 players were unable to complete their second round including Rohan Blizard from Australia who was six under with four to play.
