Rd. 2 Recap: LIV Golf stars rise to top at Link Hong Kong Open

HONG KONG - Legion XIII star Tom McKibbin added a 5-under 65 to his opening round 60 for a two-shot lead in the International Series Link Hong Kong Open on Friday.

The rising LIV Golf standout leads at 15-under at Hong Kong Golf Club, two shots ahead of RangeGoats GC's Peter Uihlein, Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Jazz Janewattananond.

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Uihlein shot a 63, which included a triple bogey on his penultimate hole while Kiradech carded a 65 and Jazz a 66. Crushers GC's Charles Howell III, in with a 62, and Stinger GC Captain Louis Oosthuizen and 4Aces GC's Thomas Pieters, who both shot 66s, are a shot further back.

McKibbin was bogey free again Friday and looks like he will be hard to beat this weekend.

“Very, very solid day,” said the 22-year-old, whose 60 yesterday set a new course record. “Game played very, very similar to yesterday. Just didn't hole us as many putts. But yeah, very happy to keep the bogeys off the card.”

He has won once before on the European Tour, two years ago, and is chasing his first title on the Asian Tour and The International Series.

“Hopefully, very similar stuff [over the weekend] would be nice," McKibbin said. "Think I've sort of took the approach going into this week just to sort of play very aggressive and sort of just whatever the outcome is, come the end of the week, it is what it is. And I think maybe I'll just keep doing that. And, you know, I've had a quite nice year. So why not just go for it?”

He made two birdies on the front nine and three in a row on the second nine.

Uihlein, chasing his third title on The International Series following two wins last year, made nine birdies today before disaster on the par-4 ninth, his 17th hole as he started on No. 11.

“I blocked it,” he said about the ninth, which he followed with a birdie. "Then chipped it through the fairway. Fatted it. Fatted it. Next one I wasn't gonna fat it right?”

He’d cruised through his first nine in 6-under, with four consecutive birdies from 12, and was running away with it before his unexpected finish.

Despite threatening to break McKibbin’s course record, Uihlein added: “I hit it awful. Absolutely. Hit it terrible. Oh, it was awful. I didn't hit a fairway until 18, and then I was in the middle of a divot, and then my next fairway I hit was on four and just had a clod of mud. I drove it awful. So, no, there was no thoughts of anything like that [course record], it was survival.”

Uihlein won The International Series events first in England and then in Qatar last year, for his first successes on the Asian Tour. He claimed the first by seven shots and the next by five shots.

“(Thursday), hit it great,” Uihlein added. “I think today was just - I mean it’s not even 12 o'clock, right? So, it's still early in the morning, right? It's just one of those things. I just didn't hit it very good today, but hit it great yesterday. You know, I'm sure I'll be a couple back or so going on the weekend, so we'll see.”

Kiradech, the Asian Tour Order of Merit champion in 2013, made an eagle, six birdies and three bogeys.

“It was a solid day overall,” said Kiradech, who is looking for his first win on the Asian Tour in seven years. “Even though it didn’t start well, similar to the first round. I opened with a bogey after a bad drive but bounced back quickly with birdies on the second and third holes, which got me back into the game.

“My driving wasn’t as sharp as yesterday, but I managed my game well, focused on hitting as many greens as possible, and my putting felt great. I had good speed and good reads all day. Finishing five-under puts me just a couple of shots behind, so I’ll keep doing what’s worked in the first two rounds.”