Tournament round-up: Graeme McDowell is in a share of third place after a second round 66 in the UBS Hong Kong Open yesterday.

Robert Karlsson holds a four-stroke lead over former champion Miguel Angel Jimenez at the midway mark after the Swede fired a second consecutive flawless six-under-par 64 around the Fanling course.

McDowell, Scotland's Barry Hume, and another former winner at the Hong Kong Golf Club, Simon Dyson, lead a congested group containing 2003 Masters champion Mike Weir and South Africa's Trevor Immelman at seven-under.

McDowell reached the turn in level-par 34 but then hit four birdies in five holes from the 13th on the back nine for his 66 and a halfway total of 133.

Welshman Garry Houston failed to repeat the form shown during his opening round 63, but remains high on the leaderboard after a one-over 71 dropped him to six-under alongside Asian Tour Order of Merit leader Liang Wen-chong, overnight leader KJ Choi of Korea and Sweden's Daniel Chopra.

Karlsson admits he usually avoids the trip to Hong Kong after previously struggling around the quick sloping Fanling greens but his new approach to the tricky short course paid off again with devastating effect.

The 38-year-old began where he left off by sinking a 15-foot birdie putt at the short par three second before picking up back-to-back shots at the par-four seventh despite finding the trees of the tee and short par-three eighth after nailing the tee shot to three feet to reach the turn three-under-par.

Karlsson was at it again at the 10th, holing from 10 feet, before finishing his immaculate round with a 20-foot birdie putt at the tricky 17th and 10-footer at the last.

"I have understood exactly what I need to do to have a good score around this golf course and then it is up to me to do it. So far I have done well. I used my driver only once today, at the sixth," said Karlsson, who held on to the halfway leads on his way to victory at The Celtic Manor Wales Open and The Deutsche Bank Players Championship of Europe last year.

"I would give myself nine out of 10 for the first round and probably also a nine today, even though it was a bit different today, they were very different nines. I missed birdie putts at both the par fives, three-putted the 14th and missed from five feet at number three. But at the same time I was in trouble a couple of times today and saved myself."

Hume will take a massive stride towards securing his Asian Tour future with a strong finish over the weekend.

The 25-year-old, who last made the cut at the Singapore Masters on his way to a tied for 37th place finish at seven-under-par overall, followed up his opening round 65 with a second round 68.

Hume is currently 111th on the Asian Tour Order of Merit with just over $22,000 from 18 events and needs a top-60 finish to secure his card for the 2008 calendar.

And with just four events remaining, Hong Kong represents the best opportunity for Hume to leap up the leaderboard with the Vietnam Masters, Cambodian Open and season-ending Volvo Masters of Asia offering significantly less prize money.

The best round of the day came from Immelman, who bounced back from his one-over-par 71 opening round with a marvellous bogey-free seven-under-par 63, while Weir leapt up the leaderboard with a second round 64.

Damien McGrane is seven shots back after a 66 for 135, while Gary Murphy is on 136 after a 70. Paul McGinley also shot 70 for 138, but Rory McIlroy missed the cut which fell at one-under-par 139.

Starting at the 10th McIlroy was out in three-over-par 39 that included four bogeys and just one birdie at the 14th. And a double at the sixth left him on four-over-par 143.