Ancer takes five-stroke, second-round lead at LIV Hong Kong

HONG KONG (AP) — First-round co-leader Abraham Ancer birdied five of his final eight holes Saturday for an 8-under 62 and a five-stroke lead after two rounds of the inaugural LIV Golf tournament in Hong Kong.

Ancer had a two-round total of 15-under 125 on the Hong Kong Golf Club course.

Harold Varner III and Eugenio Chacarra, who shot second-round 66s, were tied for second.

Joaquin Niemann, who won the Jeddah tournament in Saudi Arabia last week for his second LIV victory in three starts, had a 68 and was 10 strokes behind Ancer heading into Sunday.

“I'm not going to be thinking about leading the tournament,” Ancer said. “I’m just going to go out there and stay in the present, go about my routine, and just keep doing the same thing. Try to focus on the shot that I've got in front of me.”

The Hong Kong tournament is the second of three LIV Golf events that are part of the Asian swing, with the third in early May in Singapore. The week before Singapore, the LIV series will be in the Pacific region with a second consecutive tournament at The Grange in Adelaide, Australia from April 26-28.

Next up after Hong Kong on the LIV tour will be in Miami from April 5-7.

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf