SWINDON’S David Howell remains in the hunt for the lead at the Africa Open after his three under par second round.

The Broome Manor pro finished day two on seven under par for the tournament, five shots off club-house leader, and fellow countryman, Matt Ford.

Howell has hit a rich vein of form after taking a couple of weeks off and has now recorded 28 birdies and just six bogeys in the last five rounds of golf in South Africa.

Howell, commencing his round on four under par at the East London Golf in Eastern Cape, got off to a good start with back-to-back birdies on holes three and four.

He followed that up with another birdie on the eighth hole to go out in a respectable 34 in his bid to close down Ford who had recorded a six under par round earlier in the day.

However Howell endured a mixed back nine to prevent him from closing the gap any further.

On the tenth he left his tee shot short of the green on the par three hole, leading to his first dropped shot of the day.

Howell recovered three holes later on the 13th when a well placed tee shot on the par four hole set him up perfectly to record a birdie, but that was followed up by another dropped shot on the 14th hole, when a poor putt cost the Swindon golfer.

Back-to-back birdies on 15 and 16 looked to put Howell in a strong position going into the weekend but he left himself with too much to do on the par three 17th to finish the day in tied sixth overall.