Liang, Sterne share early lead at Hong Kong Open

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HONG KONG -- Chinese star Liang Wen-chong and South Africa's Richard Sterne fired matching six-under-par 64s for the joint opening round lead at the UBS Hong Kong Open on Thursday.

Liang, who was the 2007 Asian Tour's Order of Merit winner, nailed seven birdies against a lone bogey while Sterne holed a birdie on the 17th hole for the shared lead at the Hong Kong Golf Club.

Chinese Taipei's Lin Wen-tang fired a 65 to lie in a tie for third place alongside Filipino Frankie Minoza in the $2.5 million event. Thailand's Chawalit Plaphol and Chinese Taipei's Wang Ter-chang were two strokes off the pace in joint fifth spot after posting matching 66s alongside England's Oliver Wilson and Italy's Francesco Molinari.

Liang, with two wins on the Asian Tour, broke away from the elite field when he was seven under after 17 holes before dropping a shot on the final 18th hole.

"I felt very good with my putting. I tried to be very positive and took each hole step-by-step. My performance today was very steady. There are still three rounds to go and I will try to have my best performance every day. The golf course is very short but the fairways are narrow and you have to be careful on each fairway," said Liang, who hopes to adopt a relaxed week after a hectic traveling schedule.

"I have been away for seven weeks. I am quite tired, and I have tried to recover. My performance in Singapore was not steady. My coach is here this week, and he is asking me to be patient and perform better so I hope to do just that," he added.

Playing in his first ever round in Fanling, Sterne enjoyed a solid day when he joined Liang at the top of the leaderboard.

"A lot of the holes are quite tricky. If you miss the green in the wrong place, you can't even get close to the hole. That happened a couple of times, and I had to take bogey. I had a good back nine which was nice," said Sterne, who won the Joburg Open in South Africa in January.

Filipino Frankie Minoza, 48, was pleased with his best round in Fanling since playing at the Hong Kong Golf Club as an amateur back in 1978.

"I've been playing here for years and this is the only day where I've had one solid round so I'm quite happy. I made the putts which is the key out here.

"I've not been having a good season on the Asian Tour so a good finish here would definitely push me up the Order Of merit. I'm looking forward to the rest of the week," said Minoza, who won the 2007 Philippine Open.

Chinese Taipei's Lin, with three wins in Asia, bounced back from a double bogey on the opening hole by firing seven birdies for a 65.

"A five under today is amazing especially after my double bogey on the opening hole. I came back strong by firing birdies on the second and third holes. It gave me a much needed boost as I holed five more birdies after that," said Lin.

Defending champion Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain shot a 71 and was among those in 73rd place alongside India's Jeev Milkha Singh.