Liang Wenchong holed out with a nine-iron on his way to leading the Shui On Land China Golf Challenge after eight holes, following stops at two golf clubs in Beijing on Wednesday, day three of the week-long event.

The Chinese No 1 eagled the first of four holes in the capital to go two-under, while overnight leader Poulter finished the day at one-under for the 18-hole, seven-city tournament.

World No 2 Lee Westwood is 1-over and US Open champion Rory McIlroy is off the pace at 6-over after recording a triple-bogey in the afternoon.

A champagne-drenched launch ceremony started the day at the new Topwin Golf and Country Club before Liang took the celebrations to a new level when he holed out from 139 yards to eagle the 470-yard par-four and move to 2-under, one ahead of Poulter.

"I was very lucky this morning with my nine-iron shot, but I'm just going to keep going," Liang said. "I had to hit my approach first as my opening tee-shot was a bit right and was the shortest.

Liang (pictured) parred each of the other seven holes.

"I looked at it and knew it was 139 yards, so I picked up a nine-iron. I didn't know it was going in, but it felt good and then I saw it roll in. It was a great feeling and the crowd loved it."

Liang is the darling of the home fans and is relishing the challenge of representing China and hosting three of the world's most famous golfers.

"It's good to be the leader, but more importantly we just want to make it fun for the fans and encourage big galleries at each leg," he said. "That's most important, and we have four cities to go."

Poulter, who started the day 1-under, found water on his way to a bogey at Topwin's 590-yard par-five, so was two behind Liang as the action moved to Jade Island International Golf Club in the afternoon.

The ever-competitive Englishman drew within one again with a birdie at the 175-yard par-three. Westwood hit his tee-shot into the trees on his way to bogeying the 444-yard par-four to drop back to 1-over.

China Daily

(China Daily 10/13/2011 page23)