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Michael Hoey carded a round of 71 in the second round of the Shenzhen International at Genzon Golf Club on Friday.
Hoey went into the second day two over par after an opening round of 74 but birdies on the second and seventh followed by a very steady back nine saw him card a one under par round and tied for 49th place.
Damien McGrane signed for four bogeys on the back nine, including the 14th, 15th and 16th, finishing in a share of 73rd spot and missed the cut.
Peter Lawrie carded rounds of 74 and a 75 and was also on the wrongside of the cutline.
Kevin Phelan finished a shot further back on six over par after carding a 76 and so will see no weekend action.
It was Kiradech Aphibarnrat who exploited fine conditions to storm into the lead.
The Thai started day three on eight under par, a shot behind leader Peter Uihlein, but birdied six of his first nine holes to sit 12 under half way through his round, two shots ahead of the American and Pablo Larrazabal, who was seven under for the day going into the closing holes.
Aphibarnrat, having coped well with Friday’s gusts, followed a series of sweet putts with a sensational approach to the sixth for another gain.
Spaniard Larrazabal was on course for a 65, a score already made by China’s Li Hao-tong, who is among a group of seven under, one behind Emiliano Grillo of Argentina.
Li, aged 19, played alongside two-time Masters Champion Bubba Watson for the first time and said: “He's pretty nice guy, so I very much enjoyed playing with him.
“I hit a lot of greens and made a lot of birdies. I was pretty lucky also.”
Watson, who started the day on level par but went round in two over, praised Li, saying: “He's hitting the ball really well. He's making a lot of putts. The key around a golf course is a lot of putts and he made a lot of putts today.”
Richie Ramsay had looked like beating Li to a score of seven under but the Scot dropped his only shot of the day with a bogey at 18, a par four, for a 66 that left him five under overall.
Ramsay’s exceptional round matched the best of the week from Huang Wen-yi, whose equally impressive effort earned him the lead at the end of day one, but Li went one better than both.
Ramsay said: “I played lovely all day. I didn't really sort of hole that many putts. I just hit it close quite a few times. I’m a little disappointed to bogey the last but it's not an easy hole, and I just pushed my tee shot and I had to lay up. I hit a lovely putt that hit the edge.”
