TCL CLassic:Thailand's Chapchai Nirat continued his astonishing assault on the Yalong Bay Golf Club today, shooting a second-round 66 to move to 17-under-par for the tournament and take an early seven-shot lead in the TCL Classic.

The 23-year-old, who shot a course record 11-under-par 61 to lead by three shots overnight, dropped his first shot of the co-sanctioned event on his 22nd hole but already had two birdies in the bag.
   
Chapchai completed his round without any further mistakes and picked up three more birdies and an eagle along the way to remain clear of the Spanish duo of Carl Suneson and Carlos Rodiles, who shared second on 10 under.
   
"My plan was just to keep it on the fairway, hit the green, putt and make as few mistakes as possible," Nirat said.
   
Several Europeans joined in the birdie-fest this morning, Rodiles and Suneson carding 66 and 68 respectively and a trio of Englishmen sharing fourth with Swede Pelle Edberg on nine under par.
    
"All we can hope is that he doesn't go bananas at the weekend, if that happens then it's all over for the rest of us," said Nick Dougherty, who shot a 66 to move into contention alongside compatriots James Heath (63) and Miles Tunnicliff (65).
   
Suneson did not think that Chapchai could sustain his level of play over the weekend.
   
"He's obviously playing tremendous golf, but I played here last year when David Howell was 17 under after two rounds and he didn't win," he said. "This game has a habit of bringing you back to your knees pretty quickly."
   
Last year's European Ryder Cup captain Ian Woosnam's hopes of a revival in playing fortunes were hit by three bogeys.
   
The 1991 Masters champion carded a second-round 71 to stand at one under for the tournament with the cut likely to come at around four under.
   
Damien McGrane and Paul McGinley both find themselves on that projected cut mark of four under. McGrane carded a 71 while McGinley was four under for his round with two hole to play.

Michael Hoey had neither made up nor lost ground and finds himself stuck on two under par through 11 holes, which will not be good enough to be around for the weekend.

David Higgins was shot further back with three holes left to play.