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| April 15, 2006 | Saturday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 16, 1427 |
Golf: England’s unknown Lynn surprise halfway leader
BEIJING, April 14: Briton David Lynn brushed off a delicate groin injury to shoot a second-round 67 and take the halfway lead at the China Open on Friday.
Lynn hit nine birdies to go nine-under-par for the tournament, a shot ahead of Zimbabwe's Marc Cayeux, Portugal's Jose-Filipe Lima and Thai Prayad Marksaeng, who shared second place.
The 32-year-old Englishman, who started at the 10th, would have been further ahead had he not found the water on his ninth hole and then dropped a shot putting out at the end of his round.
He also revealed he had a festering insect bite removed from his groin at the course on Thursday.
Cayeux, who famously burnt his hand while lighting a barbecue before partnering Tiger Woods at the NEC Invitational last year, also battled health problems before posting the second best round (65) of the day.
Prayad nearly struck a blow for Asia at this co-sanctioned event by tying for the overall lead on nine-under but just missed out with a birdie putt at his final hole.
The 40-year-old, who won at the China Open 10 years ago before it was co-sanctioned and again on the Asian Tour in Beijing last year, hit a 67.
Lima could not match his first-round 67 but made sure there was no repeat of the three-putt on the final hole that deprived him of a share of the lead on Thursday. Caught short on the final fairway, the French-born player answered a call of nature behind a tree before resuming to finish with four birdies and a bogey for a 69.
His compatriot Christian Cevaer, who led overnight, had a poor opening nine but an eagle straight after the turn triggered a recovery and he posted a par 72 for a share of fifth with India's Rahil Ghangjee and Briton Scott Drummond.
World number 13 Henrik Stenson, who carded a disappointing first-round 73, looked to be on his way to a magnificent score when he grabbed five birdies in a row from his second hole.
The Swede picked up two more shots at his 13th and 14th holes before all his good work was undone at the next when he twice hit his ball into the water for a quadruple bogey. He ended up six shots off the pace.
Defending champion Paul Casey had a better day, shooting a four-under 68 to add to his first round 71, leaving him four shots behind the leader.
Li Chao finished on even par for the first two rounds and was the only one of 22 mainland Chinese in the field to make the cut, which was set at one-over-par.
Second round scores
135 - David Lynn 68-67
136 - Jose Filipe Lima , 67-69 Prayad Marksaeng 69-67, Marc Cayeux 71-65
138 - Rahil Gangjee, 68-70 Scott Drummond 71-67, Christian Cevaer 66-72
139 - Paul Casey 71-68 , Jarrod Lyle 68-71, Simon Yates 69-70 Robert Coles 70-69, Nico Van Rensburg 75-64, Terry Pilkadaris 72-67, Simon Dyson 67-72, Peter Hanson 67-72
140 - Barry Lane 72-68 Hendrik Buhrmann 72-68, Ross Fisher 67-73, Jose Manuel Lara 71-69, Simon Wakefield 67-73
Furyk IN CONTENTION
MIAMI: Jim Furyk, a long-time fan of the Heritage Classic at Hilton Head in South Carolina, charged into contention with a seven-under-par 64 in Thursday's opening round.
Hard work on his putting the previous day paid immediate dividends as the American reeled off seven birdies in a blemish-free display, finishing a stroke behind leader Vaughn Taylor.
World number eight Furyk, who tied for second at Hilton Head last year, did well to save par at the first two holes where he missed the green with his approach shot.
He then took advantage of near-perfect scoring conditions and ended his round with four birdies in the last eight holes.
Leading first round scores:
63Vaughn Taylor
64Jim Furyk
65 Tom Pernice , Billy Mayfair; Duffy Waldorf
66 Chris Riley, Brian Gay, Geoff Ogilvy, Aaron Baddeley
67 Jonathan Byrd, Mathias Groenberg, John Holmes, Ben Crane, Arjun Atwal.—Agencies
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