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SANYA, China -- Chapchai Nirat of Thailand shot a 6-under 66 on Friday to take a six-stroke lead after the second round of the TCL Classic. The $1.1 million tournament is co-sanctioned by the European Tour and the Asian Tour.

Nirat's 17-under 127 matched the best two-round total in relation to par on the Asian Tour. David Howell of England did it last year at this event, and Filipino Frankie Minoza did it in the 2001 Singapore Masters.

Nirat's lead was fueled mostly by his course-record 61 on Thursday at the Yalong Bay Golf Club.

Five players were in at 11-under 133: Jean-Baptiste Gonnet of France (66), Rafael Echenique of Argentina (69) and Australians David Bransdon, Simon Nash, Adam Blyth, who each shot 66.

"The only thing on my mind was to keep hitting fairways and keep making putts," said the 23-year-old Nirat, who is looking for his first tour victory. "I just wanted to ensure I didn't make any mistakes.

"I feel comfortable this week," he added after carding just one bogey and an eagle at the 595-yard, par-5 16th. "But I still feel a bit of pressure because I know that on a course like this it's possible for someone to catch me."

Carl Suneson of Spain, who is seven strokes off the lead after a 66, said the Thai could still stumble.

"He's obviously playing tremendous golf," Suneson said. "But I played here last year when David Howell was 17 under after two rounds and he didn't win. This game has a habit of bringing you back to your knees pretty quickly."

Lee Westwood carded a second-round 70 to join Oliver Fisher, who carded a second round 69, on 8 under. Ireland's Paul McGinley and the English duo of Simon Hurd and Simon Griffiths all edged into the weekend's action after making the cut. But Ryder Cup-winning Captain Ian Woosnam failed to build on his opening round 72 and, despite carding a 71, he followed his 2005 failure at the event with another missed cut.

England's Nick Dougherty is remaining upbeat despite sitting eight shots behind following his 6-under 66 in the second round. Dougherty built on his solid opening round 69 to shoot up the leaderboard to join compatriots Miles Tunnicliff, James Heath and Sam Little on 9 under.

Dougherty is well aware that Nirat will need to drop his game, but the Liverpudlian is confident of making an impact over the weekend.

"It's hard to tell what you need to do over the weekend when you've got one guy with such a big lead; he might go out an shoot level par on Saturday," Dougherty said. "When there is one guy out on his own, you're relying on him a bit. If he goes low on the weekend, it's all over.

"But that would be pretty impressive if he did because it's difficult to keep playing like that for the whole tournament," he explained. "If I can shoot 15 under over the weekend, which is well within my grasp, then he'd have to play some to beat."

Dougherty fired five birdies to reach the turn in 31 after staring on the back nine, but he failed to produce the same form on the front nine and came home in 35 after dropping a shot at the par-4 fourth, his 13th.

"There are a lot of birdies out there and every time you don't make one you feel you've given up a good opportunity," he added. "Sixty-six is a good score but I feel I've left a few out there on the back nine.

"I was 9 under for the tournament after 10 holes, so to finish on that is a little disappointing, especially when the leader is pushing on like he is," he said. "Even so, there's two rounds to go and hopefully he won't get to much past 17 under."

Heath, who opened with a level-par 72, reeled off four birdies in his opening holes as the 23-year-old reached the turn in 30 after staring on the back nine. He collected four birdies on the way home but dropped a shot at the sixth, his 15th, for a stellar 63 to finish alongside Dougherty at 9 under.

"I played solid, I didn't really do much differently between round one and round two but there is nine shots difference," Heath said. "I had a bit of momentum and I just carried it forward. When you start like that, before you even think about the round you are already 4 under. Then you birdie a few pars 5s and suddenly it's that easy."

Tunnicliff started the day at 2 under but an eagle at the par-5 13th helped him card a second-round 65, while Little reached the turn in 31 following five birdies on the front nine before coming home in 36 despite carding an eagle of his own at the 13th hole.

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