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Wu stays strong, extends lead at KLM Open

Cape Town - Ashun Wu extended his overnight advantage at the top of the leaderboard by carding a second round of 66 to lead by three at the halfway stage of the KLM Open.

The Chinese player, who is a two-time winner on the European Tour, followed up an excellent opening round of 64 by carding seven further birdies today en route to a five under par score of 66.

Wu, who began the day with a one-shot advantage over Chris Wood, was again in fine form at The Dutch and sits three clear of his nearest challenger Jonathan Thomson of England after 36 holes.

"I had a very good start today. After two birdies on the first two holes I knew that my good feeling from yesterday was still there and I felt I could go on and make a lot more birdies," said Wu.

"The wind came into play today and although it was not very strong it was still making it a lot more difficult. I really like the golf course here and its design so I am really enjoying this week.

"If the wind blows hard tomorrow it make things very tricky for us but if it stays still then you will have to go out and keep being aggressive and make lots of birdies," he said.

Thomson, who is a European Tour rookie after coming through Qualifying School last year, found himself seven under par after nine holes thanks to a sublime stretch of six consecutive gains which saw him reach the turn in 29.

The 22 year old would eventually sign for a seven under par score of 64 - the joint lowest round of the week at The Dutch.

One shot further back from Thomson are Scotland's David Drysdale and China's Haotong Li.

Drysdale, who currently sits in 118th place in the Race to Dubai, reeled off six gains for a blemish-free 65 while Li birdied his final two holes to go into the weekend with a chance of becoming the first Chinese winner of the KLM Open, along with countryman Wu.

Scores after Round Two:

130 A Wu (Chn) 64 66, 
133 J Thomson (Eng) 69 64, 
134 H Li (Chn) 68 66, D Drysdale (Sco) 69 65, 
135 B Hebert (Fra) 66 69, C Wood (Eng) 65 70, S Lee (Kor) 68 67, 
136 R Paratore (Ita) 66 70, 
137 B Neil (Sco) 66 71, M Kaymer (Ger) 70 67, B Dredge (Wal) 70 67, J Wang (Kor) 67 70, P Larrazábal (Esp) 68 69, J Smith (Eng) 66 71, A Pavan (Ita) 66 71, A Levy (Fra) 69 68, M Baldwin (Eng) 70 67, P Peterson (USA) 68 69, A Dodt (Aus) 71 66, A Chesters (Eng) 66 71, 
138 J Campillo (Esp) 69 69, M Kieffer (Ger) 67 71, W Ormsby (Aus) 70 68, H Tanihara (Jpn) 68 70, G Coetzee (RSA) 69 69, E Pepperell (Eng) 66 72, P Harrington (Irl) 68 70, S Horsfield (Eng) 69 69, F Aguilar (Chi) 70 68, H Porteous (RSA) 67 71, R McEvoy (Eng) 67 71, M Southgate (Eng) 66 72, N Bertasio (Ita) 66 72, A Connelly (Can) 68 70, D Im (USA) 72 66, 
139 J Scrivener (Aus) 66 73, A Sullivan (Eng) 71 68, R Gonzalez (Arg) 67 72, S Kjeldsen (Den) 66 73, E Van Rooyen (RSA) 73 66, C Syme (Sco) 69 70, M Korhonen (Fin) 68 71, J Choi (Kor) 69 70, A Bland (Aus) 69 70, L Westwood (Eng) 68 71, M Manassero (Ita) 67 72, S Webster (Eng) 69 70, M Nixon (Eng) 67 72, H Sturehed (Swe) 67 72, 
140 D Fichardt (RSA) 69 71, J Guerrier (Fra) 69 71, M Albertus (Ned) 69 71, C Koepka (USA) 69 71, J Van Zyl (RSA) 67 73, R Bland (Eng) 70 70, J Edfors (Swe) 70 70, L Herbert (Aus) 70 70, M Jordan (Eng) 70 70, S Brazel (Aus) 69 71, K Stadler (USA) 66 74, 
141 S Heisele (Ger) 73 68, R Ramsay (Sco) 68 73, M Reynolds (Ned) 73 68, N Colsaerts (Bel) 74 67, G Bourdy (Fra) 70 71, T Detry (Bel) 74 67, D Horsey (Eng) 69 72, J Kruyswijk (RSA) 70 71, S Jamieson (Sco) 73 68, J Walters (RSA) 69 72, A Otaegui (Esp) 69 72, J Geary (Nzl) 72 69, S Khan (Eng) 70 71, G Havret (Fra) 68 73, 
142 S Chawrasia (Ind) 70 72, M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 70 72, F Zanotti (Par) 72 70, A Johnston (Eng) 74 68, S Gros (Fra) 69 73, N Cullen (Aus) 70 72, R Fox (Nzl) 70 72, A Rai (Eng) 66 76, P Hanson (Swe) 71 71, M Schwab (Aut) 71 71, P Dunne (Irl) 70 72, J Morrison (Eng) 69 73, P Oriol (Esp) 67 75, 
143 R Wattel (Fra) 72 71, M Pavon (Fra) 70 73, M Tullo (Chi) 71 72, L Jensen (Den) 71 72, G Green (Mas) 69 74, R Cho (Kor) 74 69, C Bezuidenhout (RSA) 71 72, P Angles (Esp) 71 72, J Ji (am) (Ned) 70 73, 
144 C Hanson (Eng) 71 73, N Elvira (Esp) 68 76, D Porsius (Ned) 74 70, P Widegren (Swe) 70 74, P Waring (Eng) 74 70, E Molinari (Ita) 75 69, A Cañizares (Esp) 69 75, R Saxton (Ned) 73 71, S Fernandez (Esp) 69 75, R Jacquelin (Fra) 72 72, C Sordet (Fra) 74 70, G Fernandez - Castaño (Esp) 69 75, R Evans (Eng) 72 72, C Ford (Eng) 71 73, T Jaidee (Tha) 71 73, K Kouwenaar (am) (Ned) 74 70, 
145 L Canter (Eng) 72 73, Z Lombard (RSA) 76 69, S Sharma (Ind) 73 72, J Lagergren (Swe) 70 75, D Howell (Eng) 73 72, L Joy (Eng) 72 73, R Gouveia (Por) 75 70, 
146 O Fisher (Eng) 69 77, J Winther (Den) 72 74, K Aphibarnrat (Tha) 72 74, S Brown (Eng) 69 77, P Khongwatmai (Tha) 67 79, O Farr (Wal) 71 75, 
147 R Fisher (Eng) 77 70, 
148 J Van Der Vaart (Ned) 72 76, J Elson (Eng) 74 74, L Euler (am) (Ger) 75 73, 
149 L Cianchetti (Ita) 75 74, Ó Serna (Mex) 73 76, R Van West (Ned) 73 76, A Cabrera (Arg) 73 76, Y Miyazato (Jpn) 74 75, M Siem (Ger) 70 79, 
150 K Koivu (Fin) 73 77, C Blomstrand (Swe) 77 73, 
151 D Lipsky (USA) 80 71, R Miller (Ned) 72 79, K Van Der Weele (am) (Ned) 77 74, 
152 M Warren (Sco) 76 76, T Pulkkanen (Fin) 77 75, D Boshart (Ned) 76 76, 
154 J Norris (Aus) 70 84, S Dyson (Eng) 74 80, 
156 A Quiros (Esp) 78 78, 
162 M Bosch (Ned) 80 82, 
163 S Kraai (am) (Ned) 78 85, 
169 A Verdonk (am) (Ned) 83 86, 
** J Dantorp (Swe) 72 RT, B Rumford (Aus) 78 WD, M Ilonen (Fin) 82 WD, A Saddier (Fra) 72 RT, D Brooks (Eng) 71 RT, M Foster (Eng) 70 WD, S Hend (Aus) RT 0

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