Zarate slips to 8th, Que 12th in Volvo Open

Danny Zarate and Angelo Que failed to match their solid lead-sharing first round outputs and tumbled down the leaderboard with mediocre scores in the second day of action in the first Volvo China Open with Korean Choi Gwang-soo and Adam Fraser of Australia emerging new joint leaders with 64 and 67, respectively, at the Shanghai Silport Golf Club course in Shanghai, China Friday.

Zarate, whose four straight closing birdies anchored his 67 Thursday and tied him up with Que and Zhang Lian-wei of China after 18 holes, nearly wasted a two-birdie effort in the first nine holes with three straight bogeys from No. 10 although the dusky Filipino shotmaker fought back with birdies on Nos. 14 and 16.

He wound up with a 71 as he dropped to eighth place with Rafael Ponce of Ecuador (67) at 138, three strokes adrift of Choi and Fraser, whose identical 135s gave them a one-shot lead over Ross Bain of Scotland (65) and erstwhile joint leader Zhang (69).

The threesome of Thaworn Wiratchant of Thailand (69) and Australians David Gleeson (67) and Scott Strange (67) stood another shot behind at seven-under 137.

After a bogey-free opening round of 67, the power-hitting Que fumbled with a couple of double bogeys and a bogey on the par 5 14th although he had four birdies on Nos. 5, 8, 9 and 13. From a share of the lead, the 24-year-old former national amateur champion fell to joint 12th at 140.

Choi came through with a tournament-best 64, highlighted by eight birdies, in a flawless 32-32 round that catapulted the Korean ace to the top with Fraser, whose 34-33 card was marred by a bogey on No. 12 which he quickly negated with a run of four birdies in the last five holes.

Bain and Zhang also both pulled off bogey-free rounds but the former gunned down two more than the Chinese ace, who famously defeated Ernie Els in January to win the European Tour-sanctioned Caltex Masters Presented by Carlsberg. Bain fired seven birdies in another fine day and strung up nines of 32 and 33.

Zhang, whose best finish here was third in 1995, had three birdies in a 35-34 round.

But with so many talented players lurking behind just a stroke or two behind, the chase for the championship in the $500,000 event remains wide open.

But while Zarate and Que breezed through the final 36 holes, compatriot and former Philippine Open champion Gerald Rosales struggled with a 73-74 card and a 147 for a share of 53rd while Mars Pucay was in 61st place after rounds of 76 and 72.