Golf Hong Kong Open Richard McEvoy's mettle will be tested to the full this morning after his lead in the Omega Hong Kong Open was cut by defending champion Fredrik Jacobson, a man in no mood to relinquish his title without a fight.

Just as it appeared Tour rookie McEvoy's 10-under-par total of 130 would secure the Englishman a five-shot lead heading into the weekend, Jacobson put together a late charge.

The stylish Swede sunk six birdies in his 65 to finish three strokes back, and, with his compatriot and last year's runner-up, Henrik Nystrom, lurking on five under, the race is on.

Ireland's two representatives, Padraig Harrington and Darren Clarke, are also well in the hunt. The Dubliner is in joint fourth position on four under par after firing a second-round, one-under-par 69, while Clarke is tied eighth a shot further back after also shooting a 69.

McEvoy has experience of winning from the front, but only in amateur golf, and the pressures he will have to withstand for a wire-to-wire victory in Hong Kong this weekend are incomparable.

But McEvoy (24), who won the six-round Tour qualifying school last month to secure his card, is a naturally laid-back character and insists he will remain unfazed.

"I was very relaxed today," he said. "Because I have got such a solid game I don't really put myself under that much pressure when I am playing. It's nice to be at the front, I love being out there and enjoy having fun all the time."

"There is a long way to go in this tournament," said Harrington. "If someone can shoot 10 under for the first two rounds, someone else may shoot 10 under for the next two rounds. There is only one guy ahead and the field is still in the hunt."

Clarke's promising day was wrecked by a double-bogey six on the 14th - his fifth - and another dropped shot three holes later.

Ireland's Richie Coughlan shot a one-under-par 71 in the third round of the US Tour School in Florida yesterday. Coughlan mixed four birdies and three bogeys in a round that left him tied 104th.