Defending Graeme McDowell missed just one fairway and made eight birdies in a superb 65 to make the cut on the mark as Seamus Power surged into contention for the OHL Classic at Mayakoba.

Power started on the 10th and had two birdies and two bogeys on his opening nine at El Camaleon Golf Club but came home in 31 with birdies at the first and second followed by three on the spin from the fifth.

It all added up to a five under 66 for the West Waterford man, who is tied for 11th on eight under par, five shots behind Gary Woodland. Scores

The Texan added a 65 to his opening 64 to lead by one from former US Open winner Webb Simpson with McDowell tied 59th on two under after a 65.

It will have felt like an even lower round to the Portrish man, who looked out of the count after an opening 75.

ut having hit just six of 14 fairways on day one, he hit 13 or 14 on Friday and had only 26 putts with a 30 footer for a two at the 15th a crucial success.

McDowell needed no putts at all at the fourth while three of his eight single putts were for three birdies in his last six holes.

At two under par, he's well off the pace but with the ISPS Handa World Cup of Golf with Shane Lowry approaching, he's keen to be sharp when they tee it up at Kingston Heath in Melbourne in a fortnight.

As for Power, he knows he has just this week and next to make a bigger impression in the FedEx Cup standings ahead of the reshuffle of Web.com Tour graduates.

He's already up six spots to 20th in the reshuffle list, meaning he may get more starts than he imagined when he graduated. However, a big finish in Mexico would move him up further,

A win is the goal and he's clearly in the mood having birdied five of the six par fives so far.

His short game is also sharp with 13 single putts on his card so far.