Chinese golf players prominent at championship

China No. 1 Liang Wenchong finished with his best round of the week when he closed with a 2-under 69, while Zhang Lianwei, the country's golf pioneer, carded a 3-over 74. Both players finished an aggregate 5-over 289.

Taking advantage of the calm morning conditions, Guangdong Province-native Liang registered three birdies in his opening nine versus a lone bogey on the back. The 28-year-old said it had taken him time to get used to Silport's championship layout that was being played on the club's East-Center configuration for the first time since 1999.

"I was satisfied with this golf tournament but hopefully I will have a better performance next week (for the Asian Open at Tomson Pudong)," said Liang, winner of last month's Singapore Masters.

"It was good to see so many Chinese players on the weekend. With the China Tour now providing a national circuit, this has given more players the opportunity to play. I am really happy to see them making progress."

Other Chinese results saw Huang Mingjie, the first round co-leader, close with a 79, tied with Guangdong-native Richard Qiu Zhifeng (70), Liao Guiming (73) of Fujian Province and Wu Kangchun (70) at 11-over 295. The latter, a former national team member who competed in the Doha Asian Games in December, was making his professional debut.

Also impressive was amateur Han Ren who rebounded from sickness and a round of 80 on Saturday to finish with a 2-over 73. The small, stocky 18-year-old Shenzhen native who will attend Indiana University on a full scholarship in September, finished the tournament an aggregate 15-over 299.

Mel Pyatt, the head of Volvo Event Management who said last Friday he was retiring after running the championship for the past 13 years, said the fact that seven Chinese made the cut showed that the car maker's strategy to promote China golf was working