Cormac Sharvin got off to a flying start then overcame a mid-round wobble to go into the weekend tied for 31st in the Challenge Tour’s Foshan Open.

Ranked eighth in the race for 15 cards with just the final counting Grand Final to come next month, the Ardglass man birdied three of his first six holes to move to seven-under.

He then went through a tough patch and mixed three bogeys and a double bogey at the par-three 11th with two birdies before finishing with a birdie four at the 18th for a one-under 71.

At five-under, he’s nine strokes behind Germany’s Alexander Knappe, who carded a second successive seven-under-par 65 to lead by one stroke from Australia’s Cory Crawford, who also posted a round of 65, on 14-under.

English duo Matthew Jordan and Ben Stow share third place at 11 under par alongside Portugal’s Ricardo Santos.

Playing on an invite this week, Knappe is currently ranked 89th on the Road to Mallorca Rankings following a disappointing season, however a victory this week will catapult him into contention for a European Tour card, with current projections showing he could leap to 12th place in the Rankings.

With 14 birdies and an eagle on his card over the first two days, Knappe has highlighted his putting as a key factor for his strong performance so far this week.

“I putted really well during the first two days and I think that has been key,” he said. “It always keeps me going and I holed a long few putts today, which was good.

“I just like it out here in China because it’s hot and I can swing freely. The flowers and the nature inspire me and I just like to play on these courses.

“There was almost no wind today, maybe a half a club’s worth, and the weather couldn’t be better.

“I just tried to play my best; I don’t have a game plan. I’ll just take it shot-by-shot over the weekend and that’s it.”

A shot behind the trio of Jordan, Santos and Stow in third place are five players in a share of sixth at ten under par, including Road to Mallorca Number Five Richard Bland, Poland’s Adrian Meronk, Dutchman Lars van Meijel and Chinese player Bai Zheng-kai, who beat Stow’s one-day-old course record with a bogey-free nine under par 63.

The final player in a tie for sixth place is Scotland’s Calum Hill, who carded the fourth hole-in-one of his life on his way to a six under par 66 on day two.

“I had 167 yards and it was just perfect for an eight iron for me. I started it ten yards right of the pin and drew it in and it took one hop and disappeared into the hole,” Hill said.

“This is a fantastic event. I came here for the first time last year and the golf course is brilliant, the hospitality is amazing and it’s a brilliant event to come to. I always have a good time.”

One amateur and 70 professionals made the cut of two under par or better and the third round will begin at 6.50am local time, with Kade McBride playing in a one-ball to begin the day. The final pairing of Knappe and Crawford will tee off at 12.30pm.

Foshan Open, Foshan GC, Shishan Town, China (Par 72)

Detailed scores

130 A Knappe (Ger) 65 65,

131 C Crawford (Aus) 66 65,

133 B Stow (Eng) 64 69, R Santos (Por) 67 66, M Jordan (Eng) 66 67,

134 Z Bai (Chn) 71 63, C Hill (Sco) 68 66, A Meronk (Pol) 68 66, L Van Meijel (Ned) 70 64, R Bland (Eng) 68 66,

135 O Farr (Wal) 66 69,

136 B Xiao (Chn) 72 64, M Fenasse (Fra) 70 66, C Blomstrand (Swe) 71 65,

137 Y Liu (Chn) 67 70, R De Sousa (Sui) 70 67, D Boote (Wal) 68 69, R Kakko (Fin) 66 71, S Heisele (Ger) 69 68, S Tiley (Eng) 66 71,

138 R Sciot-Siegrist (Fra) 68 70, F Laporta (Ita) 73 65, L Scalise (Ita) 68 70, M Armitage (Eng) 69 69, W Huang (Chn) 71 67, A Zemmer (Ita) 66 72, G Porteous (Eng) 72 66, Y Yang (Chn) 69 69, Z Dou (Chn) 71 67, H Wu (Chn) 72 66,

139 E Ferguson (Sco) 69 70, Cormac Sharvin (Nir) 68 71, C Jin (Chn) 71 68, S Garcia Rodriguez (Esp) 68 71, A Cockerill (Can) 69 70, C Syme (Sco) 70 69,

140 R Roussel (Fra) 70 70, D Huizing (Ned) 70 70, M Simonsen (Den) 71 69, Y Yeh (Tpe) 71 69, R McGowan (Eng) 70 70, C Zhang (Chn) 73 67, K Lin (Tpe) 70 70, D Coupland (Eng) 72 68, W Besseling (Ned) 73 67, D Perrier (Fra) 68 72, X Chen (Chn) 69 71, J Senior (Eng) 69 71, T Clements (Eng) 72 68, B Poke (Den) 70 70,

141 B Easton (RSA) 68 73, C Pigem (Esp) 71 70, R Enoch (Wal) 75 66, K Yuan (Aus) 68 73, D Wu (Chn) 71 70, R Højgaard (Den) 75 66, P Angles (Esp) 71 70, M Schneider (Ger) 69 72, S Prateeptienchai (Tha) 74 67, G Chen (am) (Chn) 69 72,

142 K McBride (Aus) 70 72, H Zhang (Chn) 72 70, A Rozner (Fra) 71 71, Z Chen (Chn) 71 71, M Lampert (Ger) 74 68, H Sturehed (Swe) 70 72, M Antcliff (Aus) 72 70, S Yun (Kor) 72 70, G Havret (Fra) 73 69, S Chien (USA) 72 70, L Canter (Eng) 75 67

CUT

143 J Geary (Nzl) 71 72, M Baldwin (Eng) 73 70, Z Zhang (Chn) 75 68, H Beard (Nzl) 74 69, B Virto (Esp) 73 70, Z She (Chn) 73 70, J Ye (Chn) 73 70, S Hawkes (Aus) 70 73, J Lima (Por) 74 69, A Gronkvist (Swe) 71 72, Y Kuang (am) (Chn) 75 68,

144 N Paez (USA) 73 71, D Van Driel (Ned) 71 73, C Song (Chn) 74 70, X Yao (Chn) 74 70, M Ford (Eng) 71 73, X Luo (Chn) 72 72, Z Ouyang (Chn) 73 71, D Jin (Chn) 74 70, F Wilkin (Nzl) 70 74, J Sjöholm (Swe) 70 74, B Eccles (Aus) 75 69, D Chen (Chn) 68 76,

145 U Coussaud (Fra) 76 69, J Zhang (Chn) 75 70, Y Yin (Chn) 72 73, J Zhang (Chn) 70 75, Y Lin (Tpe) 77 68, C Ma (Chn) 69 76, N Von Dellingshausen (Ger) 74 71,

146 H Chao (Chn) 71 75, W Jung (Kor) 74 72,

147 M Wiegele (Aut) 76 71, G Zhou (Chn) 73 74, D Whitnell (Eng) 73 74, O Roberts (Eng) 75 72, O Lengden (Swe) 72 75, T Yuan (Chn) 71 76, E Johansen (Nor) 76 71, K Muir (Nzl) 73 74, O Lindell (Fin) 72 75,

148 Z He (Chn) 71 77, J Lin (am) (Chn) 75 73,

149 E Cuartero Blanco (Esp) 77 72,

150 M Haastrup (Den) 75 75, S Hak (Hkg) 75 75, T Wu (Chn) 77 73, E Liu (am) (Chn) 75 75,

152 Y Chen (Chn) 77 75,

153 H Xue (Chn) 81 72, G Xu (Chn) 80 73,

160 B Zhang (am) (Chn) 79 81,

174 S Lin (am) (Chn) 90 84,

175 J Liang (am) (Chn) 85 90,

** B Macpherson (Aus) 76 WD