Chinese Taipei’s Hung Chien-yao produced a scintillating seven-under-par 64 to snatch a one-shot halfway lead from title holder Anirban Lahiri of India at the Venetian Macao Open on Friday.

The unheralded 23-year-old enjoyed a flawless round with seven birdies at the Macau Golf and Country Club to lead the US$1 million Asian Tour tournament with a two-day total of 10-under-par 132.

Indian star Lahiri, who featured in the Presidents Cup last week, was amongst those bunched in tied second place following a 67 while others chasing Hung include Korea’s Jeunghun Wang (68), Brazilian Adilson Da Silva (65) and Chiragh Kumar of India (66).

Australian Scott Hend, winner here in 2013 and runner-up to Lahiri last season, stayed in the hunt with a 68 leaving him two back with countryman Sam Brazel, who charged up the leaderboard with a 66.

Hung, who finished tied fifth at the Mercuries Taiwan Masters two weeks ago, said playing with no expectation has been the secret to his good run at the Venetian Macao Open.

“Everything feels good. Driver, irons and putting were good, especially the putting,” said Hung who is leading for the first time on the Asian Tour. “I didn’t push myself and didn’t tell myself that I have to play good. I was relaxed and enjoyed the day. The first six months of the year, I was giving myself too much pressure.”

A lesson with short game guru Dave Stockton in the U.S. recently also put some perspective in Hung’s game. “I changed my attitude. I had a lesson with Dave Stockton and he’s telling me that that we’re humans and we make mistakes and that we should enjoy our golf. I just found my confidence back. I know Anirban from a long time and he’s a superstar right now. I’ll try to learn from him if we play together.”

World number 39 Lahiri accumulated an eagle, four birdies and two bogeys to stay on track to successfully defend his title. The Indian star was disappointed though to drop a shot at his last hole.

“It leaves a bad taste in the mouth. I hit a good drive and just got stuck in a terrible lie and it was a bad five,” Lahiri said. “I think I played well, pretty similar to yesterday. But the couple of times I missed the fairway, I found some difficult lies in the rough.”

A four iron approach from 241 yards out set him up for easy eagle and the current Order of Merit leader is hoping his putter will find its full range this weekend. “Every time I hit it close, I didn’t make a putt. I’m in a similar position again (as last year). Hopefully I don’t make these silly mistakes,” he said.

The 20-year-old Wang was poised to finish atop the leaderboard but dropped two shots in his last three holes. “I had a bad finish. I’m not feeling good. Feel so bad,” said Wang, who is searching for a maiden win. “Tomorrow, I don’t want to do stupid things like seven and nine. Just play my best, play my game.”

Unlike Wang, Adilson, a multiple winner on the South African Tour, holed some bombs, including a 30-footer on 18 to move into contention for a first Asian Tour win. “My putting has been iffy for weeks and I’ve been making those five six footers that I’ve been missing which makes a big difference. I’ve changed one or two things, trying to get back to my old style of putting. I’m just trying to feel how I used to putt.”

Big-hitting Hend is where he wants to be going into the weekend. “I’m swinging it great, chipping it great, putting it great and hitting my irons good. It’s all about the mental part of the game to keep it going. If I can be mentally at ease, get the process going and not think about the outcome, I normally play quite well,” said the Aussie.

The halfway cut was set at 142 which saw four-time Major winner Ernie Els miss the mark by one short after a 69 while former two-time champion Zhang Lian-wei of China also saw his record of not missing a cut end in Macao come to an end after he also missed by one shot following a 72.

The Venetian Macao Open is organised by the Macao Sport Development Board of Macao SAR Government and the Golf Association of Macau. Sanctioned by the latter and the Asian Tour, The Venetian® Macao is supporting the iconic event as title sponsor for the fourth successive year.

For more details on the Venetian Macao Open, please visit: www.thevenetianmacaoopen.com.