‘In the zone’ Colsaerts hits the front in China

Nicolas Colsaerts described himself as “in the zone” after an eight under par 64 in the second round of the BMW Masters sent him one shot clear at the top of the leaderboard.

The Belgian had nine birdies at Lake Malaren Golf Club in Shanghai to reach 14 under for the week, starting his Final Series campaign in style as he leapfrogged overnight leader Alexander Levy of France, who opened with rounds of 65 and 66.

Levy’s fellow Frenchman and room-mate for the week, Romain Wattel, is -11 following a 67, and the chasing pack includes Ryder Cup stars Thomas Bjørn (-9), Jamie Donaldson and Graeme McDowell (both -8).

Colsaerts and Levy have both been in fine form of late, the latter winning the rain-affected Portugal Masters three weeks ago, where the former came within a whisker of carding the first 59 in European Tour history in the first round.

The US$7million BMW Masters is the first of a lucrative four-tournament swing which will also take in the WGC-HSBC Champions and the Turkish Airlines Open by the Ministry of Youth and Sport before the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.

Colsaerts, who admitted to feeling well rested after spending a week at the home of his caddie in Thailand, is pleased with his game.

I think the condition of the golf course and the way the air is here makes a big difference; it will definitely suit long hitters, without a doubt" “I hit good drives all day, which is a big bonus here because it’s pretty soft,” he said. 

“If I keep it out of the short stuff I’m going to have a lot of shorter clubs in than lots of the other guys, so I can see this course a bit more scoreable than the others. 

“Most of my second shots were very, very good which was key. With the clubs I was coming in with, you can have a lot of birdie putts.

“I felt like I’ve been in the zone a couple of times recently. It’s pretty nice when you can get it going like this, and I’ve been playing quite well for the last couple of months.

“When you’re playing in these kind of conditions where the ball doesn’t travel as far, the difference between a long hitter and a short hitter becomes a bit more significant than if you play a bouncy place. 

“I think the condition of the golf course and the way the air is here makes a big difference; it will definitely suit long hitters, without a doubt.”