Donald leads at Hilton Head

Luke Donald is on course to become world number one after a second-round of 65 moved him into a one-shot lead at The Heritage at Hilton Head.

The 33-year-old is currently ranked number three but, with current rankings leader Martin Kaymer having a week off and Lee Westwood playing in a tournament worth fewer ranking points in Indonesia, a win in south Carolina would move Donald to the head of the standings.

The Englishman had opened with a four-under 67 yesterday, and he was in imperious form today as he racked up five birdies on the front nine.

He dropped a shot at the 10th but picked up two more at 11 and 15 to move a stroke clear of first-round leader Garrett Willis on 10-under-par.

"I got off to a great start, again, birdieing the first two holes gave me some good momentum," said Donald.

"I played that front nine really well. The back nine is a little bit tougher, but, again, I did a lot of good things today, drove it reasonably well.

"Some of my misses were in good places where I could get a good up-and-down. It was a solid day."

Willis, whose decision to continue with his conventional putter instead of switching to a belly putter yielded a seven-under 65 yesterday, could not keep up his high standards from the first day as he started the front and back nines with bogeys in a round of 69, but he remains in the fight for victory.

Camilo Villegas was three-under on the day as the Colombian moved into a tie for third while Jim Furyk and Masters contender Jason Day were two of the big movers on the day as they also moved to eight-under with five-under and six-under rounds respectively.

Ian Poulter is a shot further back after a flawless round of 66, with Ireland's Graeme McDowell at two-under following his 69.

But Poulter and McDowell's Ryder Cup team-mate Francesco Molinari missed the cut after the Italian posted a three-under-par 74 to leave him four over overall.