Day two came but once again the wind stayed away. The oft-used golf adage about the difficulty in following up one really low score with another did, in this case, prove largely true. Jin, a powerfully-built young man with near fluent English, added a 68 to retain his two-shot advantage at the head of affairs. Toshiki Ishitoku of Japan held second place but the Australian duo of Ryan Ruffels and Cameron Davis made their intentions known with matching 64s to surge up the standings and into a tie for third, three shots back.
Entering the tournament, the Australians - particularly Ruffels and defending AAC champion Antonio Murdaca - had been expected to feature prominently, not only because they're wonderfully accomplished players, but because of their noted abilities in thriving in windy conditions. Ruffels, the highest ranked player in the field at number eight in the world, had toiled to a 69 on day one but his fine 64 in the second round brought him right back into contention. The 17-year-old was in confident mood after his round, and understandably so. The weather was about to change.
Early October is pretty late in the year for a tropical storm to affect Hong Kong, but Typhoon Mujigae didn't stop to think about that. After barreling across the Philippines, narrowly avoiding Manila in the process, it made a slight turn north and headed for western Guangdong province, about 200 miles from Hong Kong. The forecast for Saturday at Clearwater Bay was set for wind - and plenty of it. Sunday, however, was looking much worse. Heavy rain and gale force winds were expected for long periods. If no play was possible, whoever was leading at the end of round three was going to be declared the champion - and with it, earn a coveted berth in next year's Masters.
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