Tomohiro Kondo climbed out of his sick bed and into the second-round lead at the Dunlop Phoenix tournament in Miyazaki.

Kondo, suffering with a bad cold, admitted himself to hospital when he arrived here on Tuesday, but recovered quickly enough to head the largest international contingent of the year on the Japan Tour.

"Every year I come here I am not well and every year I go to the same hospital. At the hospital they always say 'he's come again'," Kondo said after shooting a two-under-par 69 in a chilly breeze at Phoenix Country Club.

The 31-year-old, a four-time winner on the Japan Tour, posted a five-under 137 halfway total, one stroke better than Swede Henrik Stenson, Spaniard Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, Thai Prayad Marksaeng and Japan's Michio Matsumura.

American Brandt Snedeker and 17-year-old Japanese sensation Ryo Ishikawa were part of a group two shots behind, while first-round leader Paul Sheehan, of Australia, was three back.

Kondo, 16th on this year's Japan Tour money list, does not expect to win.

"I had a cold on Monday and was really bad on Tuesday and Wednesday, but my condition has improved much since yesterday," he said.

"Despite my good score, I don't have a lot of confidence on this course and therefore I wonder how long this good form will continue."

Stenson, meanwhile, was delighted to birdie two of the final three holes, especially the par-five 18th, where he reached the green with a three-wood second shot.

"I finished strongly and it gives me a bit of momentum," he said. "I didn't get it going on the front nine (but) it was tough today. The wind was swirling and a little gusty."

Fellow European Fernandez-Castano, who has not finished outside the top 10 in four appearances here, stayed on track for another strong finish.

An eagle at the par-five seventh, where he holed a monster 65-foot putt, was the highlight of his round.

"It looked a really difficult putt when I got to the ball and then when I went to the other side of the ball I told my caddie 'this is not that difficult' and then I holed it. I couldn't really believe it," said Fernandez-Castano, who could not recall holing a longer putt all year.

"I probably didn't play as good (as yesterday). My putter wasn't as good but that great eagle was the key point of the round. It was huge."

Snedeker stayed in contention with a fighting 71. "I played pretty well today (apart from) a couple of three-putts," he said.

"Besides that I had a lot of good looks coming down the stretch but didn't seem to convert.

"It's playing tough. The wind is swirling around in the trees and the greens are extremely fast. It's defensive-style golf, trying not to make too many mistakes."

It was another poor day for South African Ernie Els, who fell eight strokes behind after a miserable double-bogey at the last.

After pushing his drive into the trees, Els chipped back to the fairway and then pushed his third shot, his ball finishing behind a stunted pine.

His pitch shot struck the tree branch and ricocheted straight back at Els, who had to jump out of the way to avoid being hit. He took three more strokes to hole out for a 73.

Defending champion Ian Poulter also fared poorly, a 73 leaving the Englishman nine shots behind.