DAVID Howell shot up 20 places on the British Masters leaderboard as he returned to form at The Grove today.

Swindon’s two-time Ryder Cup winner, who is battling back from the wrist injury that forced him to pull out of last week's Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland, recovered from a difficult opening round on Thursday by going round in two under par in Hertfordshire this afternoon.

Howell, who shot two-over yesterday, started as he intended to go on as he opened up with a birdie on the par-five first hole.

From there, the 41-year-old Broome Manor ace made par a further 10 times in a row before he encountered trouble on par-four 12th, where he dropped a shot.

However, Howell produced the perfect response to that hiccup with birdies on the par-three 13th and par-five 15th to hand give his round a shot in the arm.

A further bogey would rear its head on the par-four 17th but Howell’s powers of recovery showed no signs of abating as he completed the par-five final hole in four shots to round off his day’s work.

Meanwhile, tournament host Luke Donald crashed out of the competition while compatriot Andrew Johnston delighted home fans by surging into contention for a second win of the season.

Donald could only add a second round of 70 to his opening 77 to finish five over par and miss the cut by five shots.

At the other end of the leaderboard, England's Richard Bland carded a flawless 64 late in the day to claim the halfway lead on 11 under par, a shot ahead of Johnston and Alex Noren.