Shane Lowry carded five birdies through nine holes - to overturn his opening round of 73 - and move to three under at the Barclays Singapore Open inside the projected cut.
Adam Scott of Australia also put himself in a strong position of securing an unprecedented third Barclays Singapore Open title by charging into the second round clubhouse lead on Friday.
Scott, winner of the tournament in 2005 and 2006, enjoyed a magical six-hole stretch where he posted five birdies and one eagle to turn in 29 before signing off with a six-under-par 65 for a 12-under-par 130 total at the Sentosa Golf Club, Tanjong course.
Title holder Ian Poulter of England sank his longest career putt from 100 feet for birdie on the last hole to close on 63 for a 132 total, two strokes behind Scott at the US$6 million event co sanctioned by the Asian Tour and European Tour.
An in-form Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland birdied the opening four holes before stumbling to a 68 to share third place with Fred Andersson Hed of Sweden and Kang Kyung-nam of Korea on a 133 total.
Asian Tour members Rikard Karlberg of Sweden, Prayad Marksaeng of Thailand, Chinese star Liang Wen-chong and Jeev Milkha Singh of India, a former Barclays Singapore Open champion in 2008, battled to a 134 total to stay in touch with the leader.
Scott returned this morning to complete the first round and after playing 30 holes today, he was delighted to be in the running to seal a third victory in Singapore.
“Every time you have won somewhere you always enjoy going back and you have good feelings. I have had a great run in Singapore in the past and it would be nice to have another great run over the weekend and get win number three,” said the dashing 30-year-old.
“I need to rest as much as I possibly can and keep hydrated. We have a lot of golf to play in this tournament and the weather forecast is always a bit dodgy so you need to be alert at all times.”
Poulter turned in 34 but burst into life on his inward nine where he carded six birdies. But the highlight was on the last hole where his massive putt propelled him into contention.
“It was the very, very left edge of the back of the green and I reckon it is a good 100 feet, if not a touch more and I certainly can’t remember holing anything of that length in the past,” said Poulter of his 18th hole putt.
After playing on the Tanjong course today, Poulter is raring to return to the challenging Serapong and is aiming to emulate his victory feat last year.
“I’m looking forward to going back onto Serapong. It is definitely the harder of the two courses but I like that. I hear it might be a bit windy on Sunday which is good so I have to put myself up there in the hunt again,” he added.
Former Asian Tour number one Liang, who finished second last year, put himself in contention again by firing six birdies and one eagle against two bogeys.
Michael Hoey finished with a 67 to move up to 6 under par.
Gareth Maybin was level for the day and on 5 under.
Peter Lawrie carded a 71 for a four under par total.
The second round was suspended due to darkness and a total of 28 players will resume their round at 7.30am tomorrow.
Among those who did not finish are Damien McGrane (-3) through on hole 15, Darren Clarke (-1) through 15, Padraig Harrington (-2) through 15 and Paul McGinley (+7) through 13.
Gary Murphy is outside the cut after a second round of 72 - to finish 9 over par overall - following an opening round of 79. The Kilkennyman's next golf assignment is the European Tour Qualifying School Stage 2 at El Valle Golf Resort in Murcia, Spain, on November 26 - 29th.
