2007 China Tour Yanji Golf Championship - Round 2: Chen makes comeback to grab halfway lead

Chen Xiaoma, who withdraw from the last event on the Omega China Tour due to dehydration and spent three days in hospital, returned with a vengeance today firing a three-under-par 69 to take the halfway lead in US$100,000 Yanji Golf Championship.

He opened up a one shot lead from Huang Mingjie, who returned a 72 at Yanji Harangang Golf Resort, situated 45 minutes from the North Korean border.

Li Chao, penalized two strokes for an illegal drop, carded a 72 to finish two strokes further back along with amateur Zhang Xinjun and Wu Weihuang.

Chen lies on one-under-par 143, in what is the fourth tournament of the season on the circuit.

In Guangzhou two weeks ago Chen had to retire during the third round due to extremely hot and humid conditions. He spent three days recuperating in a hospital in Shanghai.

“It was the first time I quit from a tournament. It wasn’t very serious but I thought I should be cautious and go for a check up. I am feeling fine now and this is certainly a great way to comeback,” said Chen.

Helped by birdies on the first two holes he made the turn in one under and then produced a flawless back nine of two birdies and seven pars.

“I three putted the ninth for a bogey which really annoyed me but helped me focus more on the back nine. It’s a difficult golf course with a lot of tree lined fairways and the greens are difficult to read,” added Chen.

Prior to his health problems in Guangzhou, Chen gave notice that his game was in gear when he finished joint second in the Qingdao Leg behind Zhang Lianwei at the beginning of June.

A disappointed Li had two shots added to his score because after taking a free drop from a gutter next to a cart path he played his next shot with his feet still on the concrete. The incident occurred on the par-five 11th and meant his five was changed to a seven.

“I am very upset about it but I’ll go out tomorrow and shoot a 66!” said Li, a four-time winner on tour.

Overnight leader Liu Guojie fell back with a 77 and is five behind the leader.

Golfing wonder kid Ye Jianfeng recovered well following his opening round of 81 by firing a 72. Remarkably the 15 year old amateur, who finished third in the season opening Sofitel Golf Championship, eagled the par five first which is where he took a 10 in the first round. He simplified the hole today by hitting a stunning wedge for his third that landed a yard past the cup and spun back into the hole.

Leading Second Round Scores (click here for full leaderboard) - Par 72:

143 - Chen Xiaoma 74-69

144 - Huang Mingjie 72-72

146 - Wu Weihuang 72-74, Zhang Xinjun (A) 73-73, Li Chao 74-72

147 - Fan Zhipeng 72-75, Wang Lei 73-74, Shang Lei 75-72, Gu Cuilin 77-70

148 - Liu Guojie 71-77, Yuan Hao 74-74

(A) denotes amateur

July 13, 2007