Darren Clarke shot a second round 73 to lie three shots off James Kingston's lead ahead of the weekend's action in the South African Airways Open at Pearl Valley.

South African Kingston was one of just three players to end the day under par (69) after high winds again took its toll on most of the field.

Kingston, currently 18th on the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit, delivered a fine round that included an eagle on the par-five third, which set him on his way as he moved to two-under par for the tournament, one ahead of Andrew McLardy and Kyron Sullivan.

Zimbabwean-born McLardy shot a 71 to go with his opening round 72, while Welshman Sullivan mirrored McLardy's scores to remain in the hunt.

Clarke shot a flawless front nine before bogies on 11 and 14 and a birdie on the 13th. Earlier, his fellow Ulsterman Rory McIlroy improved on his first round 83 with a 74 but missed the cut on 13 over.

Colm Moriarty also loses out on 11 over but Peter Lawrie remains in contention on five over after a 75.

"The wind was really strong," Kingston said. "You could see when you put the ball down, it was oscillating and it's not just that. You always got the wind, especially when it's from behind, pushing  you and you spending so much energy to try and stand still.

"Especially on those delicate shots, it's so tough to make a decent stroke.

"But in saying that, I played really solid today. It was really a good outing for the conditions."

It was another tough day for the big names in the field, with only former world number one Greg Norman and defending champion Ernie Els shooting below par rounds.

The Australian came home in two under to move to one over for the championship, while world number five Els shot the same score moving to three over for the championship.

Norman, 52, was especially impressive, taking into account that it was only his first tournament since the Dubai Desert Classic in March this year.

However, his form could be attributed to something besides golf as it was revealed that he and Wimbledon legend Chris Evert — at the event for the official launch of a Chris Evert Tennis Centre on the Pearl Valley Golf Estates - were engaged.

"Well yeah, this is an engagement ring and we were engaged four days ago," Evert said, when asked about the ring she was wearing at the press conference. "It was Sunday night while we were coming over here."

Speaking about his round, Norman said: "The golf course yesterday played more difficult than it was today. They made a few adjustments to the tee positions today that from my perspective were a little bit awkward because we had moved out 30-40 yards in different angles on different tee shots.

"I hadn't played here before so I didn't have any idea on some of them. All in all the conditions make you have to really have to bear down if you don't concentrate hard enough you going to shoot a high number out here — it's as simple as that."

Former winner of the event Retief Goosen matched his opening 74 to move to four over.

The best round of the day belonged to Dutchman Joost Luiten, who carded a five-under par round of 67, seven shots off the lead.