Published July 17, 2008 on July 20, 2018

Callum Tarren Sinks 40-Footer to Lead Qingdao Championship

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England’s Callum Tarren holed a 40-foot putt to close with back-to-back birdies for a 3-under 69 and a one-shot lead at the halfway stage of the RMB 1.5 million Qingdao Championship, the eighth event of this year’s PGA TOUR Series-China.

Familiar with the links-style course at Tiger Beach Golf Links, Tarren sunk the huge downhill putt on No. 18 to move to 8-under, one ahead of first-round co-leader Yechun “Carl” Yuan (71) of China and Canada’s Eugene Wong, who fired a tournament-low 64.

Australia’s Max McCardle shot 69 to share fourth with Chinese Taipei’s Chiehpo “Max” Lee (68) at the sister course to Carnoustie, which is hosting The Open Championship this week.

Korean Kevin Lee carded a 68 to tie for sixth with Chinese Taipei’s Chihuang Tsai (70) and American duo Paul Imondi (69) and first-round co-leader Charlie Netzel, who shot 74 to break his streak of 16 consecutive rounds under-par on the Tour.

England’s Michael Skelton and Singapore’s Jesse Yap, the other members of the quartet leading after day one, moved to tied 10th and tied 18th respectively after rounds of 75 and 77, while Order of Merit leader Charlie Saxon of the U.S.A sunk a 50-foot birdie putt on his final hole to be on the cut line at 3-over.

Tarren, currently fifth on the Order of Merit after two runner-up finishes this year, continued his quest to become England’s first-ever winner on the Tour with a round featuring five birdies and two bogeys over a course that reminds him of Rockcliffe Hall in Darlington.

“It’s just like playing at home really, it’s good. I’m enjoying it,” said Tarren, who has picked Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy as his picks to win The Open.

“There’s not much difference between this course and mine back home. This is a great golf course, a great test, the rough is very thick and dense in places. The only difference is maybe it’s a little softer on the fairways.”

After five second-place finishes on the Tour since 2016, Tarren is again in a good position going into the weekend but is determined to not get ahead of himself.

“I’m just going to try to put it on the fairway and give myself chances and see where we add up at the end of the week,” said Tarren. “I’m happy leading after two rounds, but there’s a long way to go.”

Wong, tied-sixth in the Monday qualifier, is looking for a victory to earn full status and revive a career that included a win in Beijing in 2015 when he finished fifth on the Order of Merit.

“Obviously, I play to win, that’s my main goal. Right now, I’m not able to play every week, so hopefully, I can win this week and that will all change,” said Wong, who played the first half of this year on home soil on the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada.

After an opening 73, Wong started his second round with a bogey but bounced back with four birdies in a row from No. 2, an eagle on No. 9 and three further birdies on Nos. 12, 14 and 17.

“Today everything just went my way, making putts, holing out shots. Yesterday I just missed one or two shots here and there, but today I hit more fairways,” said Wong, another player enjoying the seaside links layout in the week of The Open.

“I like the course a lot, it’s tough. It’s like our major, our [British] Open here. You can’t really hit it in the rough – you may find it or you may not – but it’s a good course.”

Yuan, 21, has played in the final group on Sunday at the previous two Tour events and a steady round with just two birdies and one bogey kept him in the top-three in his third successive Tour event.

The Chinese amateur, who’s coached by Sean Foley, Tiger Woods’ former coach, also said he was firming up plans to turn pro after the Asian Games in Indonesia.

“It’s such an honour to be coached by someone who coached players like Tiger Woods; it’s awesome. Getting to know Sean was a great experience, seeing the way he teaches, and the experience and knowledge he has. It’s really great to have someone like that around,” Yuan said.

“I will play the Beijing Championship next week and then get ready for the Asian Games, but after that, I think I’m going to turn pro right away to play the rest of the events on PGA TOUR Series-China.”

Every tournament on this year’s PGA TOUR Series-China offers RMB 1.5 million, a 25-per cent increase over purse levels from 2016.

The PGA TOUR established PGA TOUR Series-China in 2014 as its third international developmental tour, following in the footsteps of PGA TOUR Latinoamerica and the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada. Since its inception, PGA TOUR Series-China players have received Official World Golf Ranking points for top finishes at official tournaments.