Paul Dunne continued to make the most of his invitation and brilliantly birdie his closing two holes to remain just one shot off the lead with two rounds to play in the Corales Puntacana Championship in the Dominican Republic.

Dunne headed into day two of the $US 6.3m event in a three-way share of the lead thanks to an opening six-under par 66.

However, it turned pear-shape for the Irishman when he missed the green at the par-3 and with his ball landing in a native area from where he found a greenside bunker to eventually walk off with a double-bogey ‘5’.

The Greystones golfer then rebounded superbly to pick off three birdies from the fourth to seventh holes and get his round into the red at one-under par and to seven-under for the event.

Dunne was in a greenside bunker at the par-3 11th in taking a bogey ‘4’ but once again regrouped with birdies at 14 and then a spectacular birdie on 16 (see video), and where he holed a monster from the edge of the putting surface, and he then backed that up with a birdie on 17 in his round of 69 to move to nine-under par.

South Korean, Sungjae Im with a pair of 67s leads by one at 10-under par and with Dunne among four players – Aussie Aaron Baddeley (67), Jonathon Byrd (67) and George McNeil (65) – sharing second place.

Graeme McDowell sensationally produced the lowest round of the week, a sizzling eight-under par 64 that included six birdies from his fourth to ninth holes, and among those four in succession from the sixth.

The effort saw G Mac jump a massive 74 places to be tied seventh on seven-under par.

Graeme McDowell posts lowest score since November 2015 of an eight-under par 64 (Photo PGA Tour/Getty)

McDowell’s bogey-free 64 was his lowest ‘official’ Tour since a second round 63 on route to victory in the 2015 Mayakoba Classic and his last win on the PGA Tour.

There was no birdie better for McDowell than his tee-shot at the par-3 ninth hole where his ball stopped about a foot from the hole.

And currently ranked World No. 257 McDowell has plenty of incentive to get back towards the pointed end of the rankings.

“I want to be back up there in the top-50 in the world . . . I believe I’m still good enough and I believe that I’m still motivated enough to do that,” said McDowell.

“It’s been a frustrating few years, but I’m enjoying the challenge of digging myself out of this hole that I’ve got myself into and I really am starting to play well.”

And Seamus Power birdied his last hole in a round of 68 to climb 28 places to a share of 37th and be assured of making the cut at four-under par.