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Lynn comes to the boil to lead in China

England's David Lynn holds a one-shot lead after the second round of the Volvo China Open, despite feeling the effects of a painful…

Fri Apr 14 2006 - 01:00

England's David Lynn holds a one-shot lead after the second round of the Volvo China Open, despite feeling the effects of a painful boil on his groin.

The 32-year-old from Stoke put himself in title contention with a superb five-under-par 67 at the Honghua International Golf Club At nine under, Lynn is a stroke clear Portugal's Jose Filipe Lima,

Thailand's Prayad Marksaeng and Zimbabwe's Marc Cayeux. Lynn, who won the KLM Open in 2004, fired nine birdies but also carded two bogeys and a double bogey on the 18th.

"It was quite steady play today and I made quite a few putts. I'd rather be leading than chasing. I will try to keep it going tomorrow," said Lynn, who developed a boil from a suspected mosquito bite last Friday.

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"It's funny really because I was wondering whether I was going to play. I have a little bite on my groin and it has been festering since last Friday and it became quite large and quite painful.

"I saw the doctor on Monday and it got quite bad on Wednesday and Thursday. I couldn't really line up my putts." Lynn has now had the boil removed and added: "It's quite a large hole now and it needs dressing. It must be a mosquito bite. It takes your mind off golf."

Peter Lawrie is the highest ranked Irishman in the field on three under after adding a 70 to his opening 71 while Damien McGrane (70) is a shot further back.

Lima added a 69 to his opening 67, Marksaeng matched Lynn's 67 while Cayeux fired a brilliant 65. "I'm very happy to be eight under so far in the tournament," said Cayeux, 28, who sends money home to his parents in Zimbabwe.

"The temperature was hot and everything else was hot today. Golf is going down in my country. The Zimbabwean dollar keeps going down and it's depressing to go home. It's hard to see any up-and-coming golfers the way it's gone."

Swedish star Henrik Stenson collected eight birdies but undid much of the good work when he suffered a quadruple bogey on the sixth, dumping two balls in the water. Stenson, the highest ranked golfer at number 13 in the world, added a 68 to his opening 73 to lie six shots off the pace.

Defending champion Paul Casey also returned a 68 to haul himself back into title contention. The Englishman, hoping to become the China Open's first back-to-back winner, found his rhythm as he improved Thursday's round of 71 to finish four off the lead.