SHANE LOWRY MADE headway this afternoon at the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa after a second-round 69 left him five shots off leader, Sergio Garcia.

The Offaly native shot an almost flawless round in Sun City and got off to a wonderful start with birdies on the third and fifth holes before giving one back on the eighth.

Four consecutive pars around the turn were rounded off by a birdie on the 14th and then one more on the 18th to take him to three under par for his round.

Garcia at the top of the pile remains a familiar sight for Lowry, who finished runner-up behind the Spaniard at Valderrama last month. On that occasion, Lowry finished with a late flurry to finish four shots behind the tournament host.

Garcia began the day at the summit and looked likely to impose himself again after closing out the front nine on three under par. However, trouble in closing holes saw him drop shots on the 13th, 16th and 18th hole to leave him with an second round score of one under par.

Rory McIlroy built on Thursday’s opening round level par but struggled to find consistency during his round. Four birdies and three bogeys left him with a second-round 71 and eight shots off the clubhouse lead.

Padraig Harrington and Paul Dunne complete the Irish contingent; the pair sit on two over par and five over par respectively.

You can view the full leaderboard here.