PAUL DUNNE IS in a promising position heading into the weekend at the Shenzhen International as he chases his first European Tour victory.
The 23-year-old lies in a tie for third position in China, six shots behind leader Soomin Lee.
Dunne reached seven-under-par for the tournament with a round of 69 on Friday, which follows his 68 yesterday.
The Greystones golfer started with bogeys on the first and fourth but recovered with two birdies before the turn and an eagle on the 13th.
He is three shots behind Joost Luiten, who moved into second place with a sublime round of 66, including an eagle two and six birdies in eight holes.
Lee will take a three-shot lead into the weekend after a day which was once again disrupted by the weather.
Only 35 players were able to start their second rounds at the Genzon Golf Club due to thunderstorms, heavy rainfall and the threat of lightning which resulted in almost six hours of play being lost.
[image alt="Mideast Emirates Golf" src="http://cdn.thejournal.ie/media/2016/04/mideast-emirates-golf-7-630x400.jpg" width="630" height="400" title="" class="aligncenter" /end]
Lee took advantage of being able to start and finish his round, carding a seven-under 65 to go 13-under at the halfway mark on a course where he won the China Open two years ago.
The impressive South Korean, bogey-free through two rounds, made a birdie at the 11th before the horn sounded but carried on where he left off when play resumed with further gains at the 12th and 13th.
He also picked up shots at the 17th and 18th, before taking his tally of birdies for the week to 13 on the front nine to put himself in a strong position.
Dunne and Brandon Stone are tied for third while two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson is back on two-under having picked up a shot at the only hole he was able to complete.
The second round is set to resume at 6.30am local time on Saturday morning.
Meanwhile, Pádraig Harrington is well placed at the Valero Texas Open after an opening round of 70, which sees him sit six shots behind early leader Brendan Steele.
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