Golf: NZ's Ben Campbell well placed to defend Hong Kong Open title

New Zealand golfer Ben Campbell is well placed to defend his Hong Kong Open title after surging to the lead in faultless fashion at the midway point.

The 33-year-old fired a five-under-par 65 to top the leaderboard on 12-under by one stroke from first-round leader Nitithorn Thippong of Thailand.

Nitithorn backed up his opening day 62 with a 67 and is two ahead of a trio of players in third place: Korean Yongjun Bae (62), Kevin Yuan (68) from Australia, and Japan's Kazuki Higa (68).

Campbell's consistency continued at the US$2 million (NZ$3.44m) Asian Tour event, shooting four birdies on the back nine and one on the front while avoiding a single bogey.

He told the Tour's website Hong Kong's Fanling course was suited to his game.

"I just think it's a course where, you know, I'm not the longest hitter, so it's good that you just got to sort of plot your way around and just be patient I think," said the two-time Tour winner, whose second title came this season in Morocco.

"I hit a lot of shots to sort of 10-15 feet today, and sort of just played patient. I didn't fire at a few flags when I wasn't quite in position and then rolled in a couple of 15-footers. So, yeah, I think it's just all about being patient around here and sort of not trying to overpower the golf course."

Campbell has set his sights on winning the Tour's Order of Merit, which would earn the recipient an automatic place on next year's LIV Golf tour.

He was fourth coming into this week, with just tournaments in Qatar and Saudi Arabia still to be played.

American John Catlin, leader of the Asian Tour Order, surprisingly missed the cut in Hong Kong.

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