Northern Ireland’s Jonathan Caldwell returned from a late afternoon storm to grab a Tour low of 64 and muscle his way into the last 32 at the European Tour’s Cyprus Shootout.

Caldwell, 36 began the second round at one-over but quickly muscled his way through the field before a late afternoon thunderstorm halted play.

Jonathan Caldwell posts a career best 64 on day two of the Cyprus Showdown.

And when he returned the Clandeboye pro picked-up from where he left off to sign for seven-under par 64 and his lowest round in 34 events on the European Tour

The effort better Caldwell’s then career low of a 65 on day one of last September’s Portugal Masters.

“We came in off the course for the thunderstorms so I was able to check the scores and knew that five still had a chance but six was pretty secure,” said Caldwell.

“I knew I had to make a couple of birdies coming in, I gave myself a few chances on the last four holes and managed to make one on 17 and one on 18.

“I wasn’t really aggressive. I just tried to give myself chances on every hole and didn’t get overly aggressive. Nice when you start with a couple of flags like the first and second which were gettable. I holed a good putt on the second and hit it close on the third for a good start and went from there. It’s all about making putts for me. I putted lovely in Scotland and Italy for those finishes. If I continue to putt like I did today, I think I’ve got a pretty good shot.”

Welshman Jamie Donaldson leads the event at 12-under but had three holes to play as poor light halted play.