Sean Crocker posted a four under par round of 68 to open a two-stroke lead as darkness brought the Hainan Classic’s second day to an end.
Related: Haotong Li shares Hainan Classic lead
The American mixed five birdies with one bogey to open up a two-shot cushion at Mission Hills Haikou, with a six-strong group in second place on seven under including Paraguayan Fabrizio Zanotti, who finished his final hole in the dark.
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Crocker – a graduate of the HotelPlanner Tour in 2018 – won his maiden DP World Tour title at the Hero Open in 2022, but has found himself unable to kick on since that victory in Scotland, with him revealing he has recently started to focus more on the mental side of the game in a bid to improve results on the golf course.
He followed up an opening five under par 67 with a 68 over the Blackstone Course on Friday to lead in the clubhouse at nine under, with a closing bogey the only thing between himself and a three-stroke lead after the second day.
Zanotti just managed to complete his own round of 68 in time before darkness forced play to be suspended at 7.00pm local time, joining New Zealand’s Daniel Hillier, France’s Martin Couvra and England’s Jack Senior at seven under.
Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Australia’s Elvis Smylie are also in the group in a tie for second but are among a host of players still left to conclude their second rounds.
Player quotes
Sean Crocker: Pretty good. Feel for the most part in control of what’s going on out there, but a little bit of different weather, so it’s made it a bit more challenging today, so scores will probably be a bit worse than what we saw the first day because it’s definitely stormy.
It feels really good. But that’s not really my main concern out there right now. I’m working on other things that have my mind at ease while I’m out playing golf, so golf’s secondary right now. I’m just doing other things out there.
I’m just working on my mental side of my game. I think that’s maybe what’s let me down for the last eight years, so if I can get that in control, I think I can maybe keep doing what I’m doing.
