Peter Uihlein bettered Kiradech Aphibarnrat’s 69 by one to move a shot clear of the Thai in a halfway lead of nine under par at a windy Shenzhen International.
The American matched Aphibarnrat’s five birdies, the last coming at the tenth, his final hole, but dropped just one shot in his second round at Genzon Golf Club.
Uihlein, the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year for 2013, had holed a neat putt at the sixth, a par four, for a gain to draw level with previous clubhouse leader Aphibarnrat, whose monster birdie putt at the third was among his shots of the day.
Uihlein, 82nd on The Race To Dubai, was one under for his first nine holes, the harder ones in the gusts, and then took advantage of the wind to pick up three shots in nine flawless holes.
“It was tricky today. The wind was swirling quite a bit,” he said.
“I got the back nine out of the way pretty quickly. I played very solid. I felt like getting anything under par on the back nine was nice, and I played a pretty stress free front nine which is always good.”
Uihlein, aged 25, whose only European Tour win came at the 2013 Madeira Islands Open and gave him full Tour Membership, admits his approach is to keep things simple.
“I don't have much going on upstairs, just spacing out, doing my own thing and sticking to my own game plan,” he added.
“I don't really change it very often. It worked the first couple days so I’ll see how it goes from there.”
Uihlein and Aphibarnrat’s nearest challengers are a group of four on six under: Emiliano Grillo, Gregory Havret, Matt Ford and Darren Fichardt.
Grillo went round in five under, jointly the best round of the day, Havret in four under while Ford and Fichardt at one point in their second rounds each led on eight under.
Like Uihlein, Aphibarnrat’s one European Tour victory was in 2013, at the Maybank Malaysian Open.
The Thai has been playing in America in recent weeks and said: “It was a great round. Again, the wind was getting up on a few holes before I finished, but the way I was striking the ball is still very good.
“When I go out worldwide, I learn a lot of experience and I saw many top players play. Even this week, we have Bubba Watson around.
“So it's been helping Asian players to keep improving when we see all the star players, how they are playing, how they are playing the shots, and just adapt it to my golf game and it's improving.”
Sweden’s Niclas Fasth produced the shot of the day with a hole-in-one on the third, although his two under par for the day left him on one under overall, a stroke ahead of two-time Masters Champion Watson who made the cut by two shots.
Watson reflected: “It's tough. I haven't played very well. I haven't putted very well. But it's a beautiful golf course.”
Overnight leader Huang Wey-yi of China triple-bogeyed the 15th, a par four, to drop back to four under with a round of two over.
