Portmarnock, July 26: David Lynn has taken the lead in the second round of the Irish golf tournament. David Lynn overcame his usual mid-season lethargy on Friday (July 25) to produce a sparkling seven-under-par 65 and take the lead after the second round of the Irish Open. Englishman Lynn freely admits he normally suffers boredom with the European Tour at this time of year, even though the season still has 14 events to run. But after making the cut in last week's British Open, he fizzed to within a stroke of Sweden's Thomas Bjorn course record at Greg Owen 68 71 , surging to 10-under-par 134. New Zealand's Michael Campbell, who shared 53rd place with Lynn at the British Open last week, hit a 69 to land a stroke behind the Briton in second place on nine-under-par 135. Campbell's two playing-partners, first round leader Thomas Bjorn and Irish favourite Padraig Harrington had less than peaceful days. Bjorn, who looked to have recovered from his British Open disappointment when he hit a record 64 in the first round, slumped to 74 to share third place with Swede Robert Karlsson and Ireland's Peter Lawrie, all three shots behind Campbell.


It was even worse for Harrington who missed the cut by a stroke. The Irishman, whose wife Caroline expects their first child in just over two weeks, said he may now take seven weeks off, so missing the US PGA Championship.


The next group, tied in sixth place, included Peter Lonard of Australia who shot a round of 68, Peter O'Malley (69) Greg Owen (71) and Gary Emerson (71) as they all finished on 139. Paul McIngley was another local disappointent, firing a round of 66 to stay one shot behind on 140, sharing 10th place with Klas Eriksson of Sweden (68), Frenchman Jean-Francois Lucquin (68) and Ben Mason (69).


Leading second round scores in the 1,800,000 euros Irish Open at the par-72 Portmarnock course on Friday (British unless stated): 134 David Lynn 69 65 135 Michael Campbell (New Zealand) 66 69 138 Thomas Bjorn (Denmark) 64 74, Robert Karlsson (Sweden) 69 69, Peter Lawrie (Ireland) 70 68 139 Gary Emerson 68 71, Peter Lonard (Australia) 71 68, Peter O'Malley (Australia) 70 69, Greg Owen 68 71 140 Klas Eriksson (Sweden) 72 68, Jean-Francois Lucquin (France) 72 68, Ben Mason 69 71, Paul McGinley (Ireland) 74 66 141 Paul Broadhurst 67 74, Simon Dyson 69 72, Stephen Gallacher 68 73, Peter Hedblom (Sweden) 70 71, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain) 73 68, Simon Khan 68 73, Maarten Lafeber (Netherlands) 72 69, Ian Poulter 70 71


Bureau Report