Stephen Gallacher in China title hunt after scorching 65

Stephen Gallacher joined in the low-scoring bonanza on day two of the Volvo China Open to come barging up the field at the Luxehills Country Club in Chengdu.

The former Dunhill Links champion blasted a seven-under 65 for a nine-under 135 and jumped 37 places into a share of 21st, four strokes behind Welsh leader Jamie Donaldson, who fired a sparkling 61 for a 131.

Gallacher, with two top-ten finishes on the tour this season, had been one-under through his opening six holes and made a telling move with an eagle-three at the long seventh.

The Scot upped the ante on the back nine and reeled off birdies at 10, 13, 16 and 18 to push himself into the title hunt heading into the weekend.

Richie Ramsay added a 69 to his opening 66 but dropped 13 spots to finish alongside Gallacher on 135, while Fife's Peter Whiteford put in a good shift to join his fellow Scots on the nine-under mark.

The Kirkcaldy man still had to finish his first round after Thursday's suspension and birdied two of his last three holes to get his day off to a good start with a 67.

Whiteford, a former Challenge Tour champion, kept the momentum up in round two and packed five birdies into a 68 as he tucked himself in among the frontrunners.

David Drysdale had a 69 for a 137 but Thailand-based Simon Yates missed the cut by a shot on a four-under 140 after a 69.

Donaldson's 11-under-par round left the 35-year-old on 13 under overall, but 12 players were within two shots of his lead, leaving the destination of the title wide open.

Peter Lawrie's 64 put him in a seven-strong group at 12 under, while Spaniard Sergio Garcia was one of five men a further stroke back.

Donaldson birdied three of his first five holes yesterday before, as on Thursday, recording back-to-back birdies at the seventh and eighth. His inward half began with a trio of birdies and closed with three more as he came home in 30 to get his nose in front of the massed ranks.

"I think my best ever round before this was eight-under-par last year or the year before, so this was a lot better," he said. "I played great pretty much all the way.

"I hit a lot of fairways and a lot of greens and gave myself a lot of chances which you have to do here. It's set for low scoring. Today everything went my way."

France's Gregory Havret also finished with three successive birdies for a second successive 66, an effort matched by Indian Jeev Milkha Singh, whose three at the par-five seventh was his second eagle of the week.

Irishman Lawrie's unblemished eight-birdie round left him at 12 under as well, along with Denmark's Jeppe Huldahl, Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts, Northern Ireland's Gareth Maybin and Keith Horne of South Africa.The latter's two birdies yesterday morning in completing an opening 63 actually saw him snatch the first-round lead from overnight leader Han Chang-won before he re-emerged to card 69.

Garcia, who has fallen down the world rankings to 73rd, remained bogey-free for the tournament thus far after carding five birdies in a 67. He was joined on 11 under by Dutchmen Robert-Jan Derksen, who recovered from bogeys at three and five to go round in 66, and Joost Luiten, who opened his 67 with an eagle. Swede Fredrik Andersson Hed and New Zealand's Steve Alker completed that group.

Han could not replicate his opening 64 but a solid 70 kept the South Korean on ten under.

But it was bad news for another Korean as 2009 USPGA Champion YE Yang shot 75 and, at one under, became one of the biggest names to miss the cut, along with Ireland's three-time major winner Padraig Harrington (73, level par) and Swede Johan Edfors who could only reach four under despite two eagles in a 68 yesterday.

131 Jamie Donaldson 70 61

132 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 66 66, Jeppe Huldahl (Den) 67 65, Gareth Maybin 65 67, Keith Horne (Rsa) 63 69, Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 65 67, Peter Lawrie 68 64, Gregory Havret (Fra) 66 66

133 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 67 66, Steve Alker (Nzl) 66 67, Joost Luiten (Ned) 66 67, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 66 67, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 66 67

134 Chang-won Han (Kor) 64 70, Danny Lee (Nzl) 66 68, Aaron Townsend (Aus) 68 66, Wei Wei (Chn) 67 67, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 68 66, Wen-chong Liang (Chn) 68 66, James Morrison 65 69