Lee, Levy lead in Shenzen

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April 21, 2016

Soomin Lee and Alexander Levy share the lead at six-under-par at the Shenzen International after a fine day of golf.

Lee's round was free of any bogeys and contained gains on the first, fourth, ninth, 13th, 14th and 17th as he dominated the Genzon Golf Club course.

This week marks Lee's sixth appearance on the European Tour but the manner in which he carries himself suggests he has been around a lot longer. The 22-year-old South Korean already has two top-fives to his name after he finished in a tie for third on his debut at the UBS Hong Kong Open and followed that with a tie for second at the Maybank Championship Malaysia.

Speaking after his round Lee is confident that he can win this week if he can continue to putt as well as he did in his first round.

"It's good, because really I needed to change," Lee said of his form with the flat stick.

"It was really a problem for me in Perth through Thailand, so I changed.

"I had three weeks in Korea, so I'm all practicing putting and then change.

"I think this course seems like Malaysia, good for me. Small greens, narrow greens and heavy rough. I just tried to keep in the fairway and greens and then completed some putts."

Levy's opening-round-66 was also bogey-free as he birdied the first, 10th, 13th, and 18th and made a crucial eagle at 17.

While Levy has not won an event since his triumph at the Portugal Masters in 2014, he appears to be hitting the ball well at the moment.

In extremely trying conditions at last week's Real Club Valderrama Open de España, the Frenchman was able to finish in a tie for 14th. The eventual winner of that tournament was Andrew Johnston who won with an over-par score.

Having won his first event on the European Tour at the Genzon Golf Club, Levy acknowledged that he felt extremely comfortable out there today.

"I just played great today, and I played well last week and a few bad rounds with the wind. I feel my game is in a good way," Levy said.

"It's nice because you have some big memories and, for me, it's really nice to play on this place."

Brandon Stone, who is one shot off the lead without having completed the 18th, is one of 32 players who will return to the Genzon Golf Club early on Friday morning to complete their rounds after a 45-minute delay due to lightning in the afternoon meant bad light eventually stopped play.

In a tie for fourth at four-under are Raphaël Jacquelin, Gary Stal, Eduardo de la Riva, Paul Dunne and Joost Luiten.

Two-time major winner Bubba Watson is well off the pace at one-under.

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