Rumford leads Ballantine's field as Ramsay slips back in Korea

Rumford, well off the pace with a 71 on Thursday, went round in 63 in his second round, with five birdies on the opening nine and a strong finish marked by two more at the 17th and 18th.

The man from Perth, who won the last of his three European Tour titles at the Omega European Masters in 2007, now hopes for a chance to make up for last year, when he fell just short in second place.

"I'm in a position now to be thinking about winning, that's for sure," he said. "Maybe at the start of the week, not so, as I haven't come into this week with that great form. But this is a funny game and it can change from week to week.

"I think the difference between today and yesterday is just the wind out there. It was a lot calmer and obviously a lot easier to control the ball coming into these very firm greens."

Rumford's was the best round of anybody by three shots, with that 66 managed by Soren Kjeldsen, who moved into a share of second place after also signing for a 71 yesterday. He is level on seven-under par with Miguel Angel Jimenez.

However Westwood, who took over the world number one ranking last week, could only manage a 68 yesterday, still a considerable improvement on Thursday's opening 72.

Westwood got off to a good start with a first hole birdie, but gave the shot back on the third hole before back-to-back birdies on the fourth and fifth. There were also bogies on the 13th and 16th as he struggled for consistency.

That leaves him in a six-way tie for 11th place, alongside Scotland's Richie Ramsay.

Ireland's Damien McGraine, the overnight leader on 66, could not come close to matching that yesterday, with three bogies leaving him with a 72.

That put him in a three-way tie for fourth with Welshman Rhys Davies and England's James Morrison on six-under par for the tournament.

Richard Finch and Park Sang-hyan, who had been tied for second after the first round, also had par 72s to drop them back into a share of seventh place.

Finch, however, could at least be pleased with the way he recovered, having suffered a triple-bogey on the third and a double-bogey on the seventh, before recording five birdies on the back nine to salvage his round.

Ramsay, who started the second round just two shots off the lead, slipped to a tie for 11th following his 72. The Aberdonian was two-over for the day with two holes to play but signed off with birdies at both the 17th and 18th to stand on four-under at the halfway stage.

Peter Whiteford bounced back from his first-round 75 to make the cut on level-par after a 69, the Fifer grabbing three birdies in an error-free effort.

Alastair Forsyth almost made it into the final two rounds as well, with a second-round 67, but a damaging 79 to start with saw him miss out by a single shot.

David Drysdale, the only other Scot in the field, also missed out on 146.