A relaxed Mikko Ilonen of Finland brightened his chances of ending a six-year trophy drought on the European Tour with a sizzling nine-under-par 63, which gave him a three-shot cushion at the halfway stage of the China Open on Friday.

Ilonen’s spotless round took him to a two-day total of 12-under at the $3.2 million event, co-sanctioned with OneAsia, with two recent winners – Australian Brett Rumford and Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat – chasing him on nine-under.

The Finn, whose two European Tour victories came in 2007, has already finished ninth in Qatar and second in Morocco this season and looked set for another strong show at the Tianjin Binhai Lake Golf Club.

Thailand’s Kiradech, who won his maiden European Tour title at the Malaysian Open in March, carded a 67, mixing six birdies with a lone bogey.

It was a tough day for China’s latest golfing wunderkid Ye Wocheng, the 12-year-old shooting another 79 to finish 14 over and missed the cut.