Ito and Liu lead Faldo Series Europe Grand Final
Japan's Masamichi Ito and Chinese Taipei's Yi-Chen Liu made it an Asian double when they led the Boys' and Girls' competitions after the second round of the 14th Faldo Series Europe Grand Final over the Faldo Course at the Lough Erne Resort
Japan's Masamichi Ito and Chinese Taipei's Yi-Chen Liu lead the way in the Boys' and Girls' competitions after the second round of the 14th Faldo Series Europe Grand Final over the Faldo Course at the Lough Erne Resort.
Ito carded his second successive two-under par 70 to post a four-under aggregate of 140 and go into the final round four shots ahead of English duo, Adam Andrews and Harrison Greenberry.
Liu improved one shot on her opening 75 to go into the last round with a three-shot advantage over England's Abi Laker but GB&I Curtis Cup player, Holly Clyburn, who shared the led with Liu after the first round, dropped four off the lead after carding a 78.
Ito, the 2010 Faldo Series Asia champion, is playing his first tournament in Europe. The 15 year-old opened with a birdie on the 527-yard par-5 4th and also birdied the 439-yard par-4 8th before dropping his sole shot of the day on 12.
"The conditions are tough but I'm slowly getting used to them," he said. "Tomorrow I'm just going to try to be patient. You can get into a lot of trouble if you hit your ball into the wrong place."
The best round was supplied by Poland's Adrian Meronk who carded a fabulous 68 to move into a share of fifth place, which included an eagle on the 4th.
Liu - Babe to her friends - holds a three-shot lead over England's Laker heading into the final round of the Girls' event.
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The 17-year-old Faldo Series Asia Girls' Under-16 champion added a fine 74 to her opening 75 to post a 36-hole total of five-over.
Liu started with a birdie on the 468-yard par-5 4th hole but then dropped two shots when she found water off the tee on the 5th. She bounced back with a birdie on the 6th before dropping further shots on the 8th and 15th.
Sir Nick Faldo, the founder of the Faldo Series, watched the second round before giving a short-game clinic to competitors. Scores can be found at nickfaldo.com
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