David Howell vaults into lead with 63

English stalwart David Howell produced a stunning nine-under-par 63 for the second round lead in the US$1 million TCL Classic on Friday in his bid for a Chinese double.

Howell, the current European Tour Order of Merit leader, continued his breathtaking run of form as he heads the field by two strokes with a two-day total of 17-under-par 127 at Yalong Bay Golf Club.

Australian Andrew Buckle, runner-up in the Enjoy Jakarta HSBC Indonesia O pen two weeks ago, shot a stylish 66 to lie in second place. Overnight co-leader Edward Loar of the United States remains in the hunt after a 68 left him three strokes back in third place alongside Argentine due Daniel Vancsik and Ariel Canete and South Africa 's Warren Abery.

India 's Jeev Milkha Singh, a four-time winner on the Asian Tour, carded an impressive 63 and shared seventh position alongside Australia 's Scott Strange who fired a 64 and Sweden 's Joakim Haeggman on 69.

Thailand 's Prayad Marksaeng, ranked 12 th on the Asian Tour's UBS Order of Merit, and Sweden 's Johan Edfors were also tied seventh on 132 after matching 66s for the second straight day in the event jointly sanctioned by the Asian Tour and European Tour.

The 31-year-old Howell is looking for a second title in China after lifting the HSBC Champions Tournament last November when he beat world number one Tiger Woods. He was in sheer delight after carding his lowest round in his professional golfing career, and his two-day aggregate also matched the Asian Tour's 36-hole record of 17-under-par. Starting from the 10th, Howell shot four consecutive birdies from the 11 th hole and blazed his outward nine with two more birdies on the 16 th and 17 th holes.

Howell sank five more birdies coming home but dropped two shots after making poor pitch shots. “I am delighted really. My caddie just gave me a telling off as I was a little disappointed to finish five, five,” said Howell.

“I holed some putts, bit of a mixed bag. I played nicely but if you are going to shoot nine under you are not going to do it without holing any putts. I played the par fives nicely, made my birdies on those and did what you should do.

"The two dropped shots I just hit poor pitches. That was slightly frustrating but you have to be happy with 63,” said the Englishman, who admitted he started thinking of shooting the magical 59 after his superb start.

Close in contention is Buckle who finds himself in a familiar territory now as he finished runner-up in the Indonesia O pen two weeks ago, losing out to Simon Dyson of England. Buckle shot seven birdies against a lone bogey.

“It gives you that little extra confidence knowing you can be in with a chance to win a tournament. Simon who beat me that week played very well. When I played with him he didn't make any mistakes and that is what you have to do. Especially out here, if you make a bogey you are going to go backwards,” said Buckle, who is sixth on the UBS Order of Merit.

“There are a lot of birdie chances out there and you have just got to attack the pin. There is not too much wind but there are a couple of par fives and second shots where you have to be careful. I am leaving myself in good spots to make some putts,” he added.

Left-handed Loar kept himself in the hunt with a two-day total of 129. The American, who has won the national O pen s of Thailand and Korea , was on course to regain the lead after firing six birdies against a lone bogey after 12 holes. But he stumbled in the closing stages as he dropped shots in the 15, 16 th and 17 th holes before carding a final birdie on the 18 th hole.

“Yesterday was superb and it ended up being tied course record. Today I got off to a real good start and hit a bump in the road coming in. So far it has been real solid and I am looking forward to the weekend,” said Loar.

“That guy (Howell) is a heck of a player. I have never had the privilege of playing with him and you are going to have to shoot some low scores to catch him. I wouldn't be intimidated and know how to handle it. It is a different situation being a few behind and I have to close the gap and go from there,” said the optimistic American.

Defending champion Paul Casey of England struggled to cope on the greens as he ended the day in 13 th position after a 68, tied with amongst others, India 's Amandeep Johl who stormed up the leaderboard after a lowly 63 and Wang Ter-chang of Chinese Taipei, who shot a 67.

“I think four under on the front nine was just about the worst I could have shot. I had lots of putts which horseshoed, two complete horseshoes from three feet on the front side. A couple of other short putts which I missed as well, so I'm very disappointed with four under,” said Casey.

Meanwhile, South African Hendrik Buhrmann and Sweden 's Christian Nilsson fired hole-in-ones today. Buhrmann, who plays on the Asian Tour, achieved the feat at the par three third hole en route to a 68. Nilsson sank his ace on the par three 11 th hole.

The halfway cut was set at five-under-par 139 where amongst those who will miss the weekend play include Singapore's Mardan Mamat, last week's winner of the OSIM Singapore Masters and China's home hero Zhang Lian-wei.