Charl Schwartzel enjoyed a birdie-laden day at the Alfred Dunhill Championship as he stormed into a five-shot lead at the top of the leaderboard at the halfway stage.

The South African has won twice in the past three years on home soil at Leopard Creek to take his overall tally to three and looked in the groove on Friday as he pulled away from the field with a five-under-par 67.

Schwartzel's day started with a birdie four at the 18th to complete a first round that had been suspended amid an electrical storm on Thursday, moving him to within two of overnight leader Christiaan Basson.

After a quick turnaround Schwartzel had two more gains as he began from the 10th, the nine-time European Tour winner picking up the two shots in his first three holes before collecting another at the 18th for the second time in the day.

Another three shots came his way on his back nine, with only a bogey at the par-three seventh blotting his impressive round.

"It's definitely my favourite place to come and play," he said. 

"Every year I've come back here, as soon as I arrive I get that real comfort feeling, a peaceful feeling and it is to do with the surroundings, the nature. It's a place I normally go to to relax so I'm playing in a very relaxed environment.

"On top of that the golf course also suits my eye really well. The last ten years I've aimed at the same trees on every hole at the end of the fairway."

Basson's advantage quickly ebbed away from him as he struggled to replicate his form on Thursday, the 33-year-old carding five bogeys as he tumbled down the leaderboard with a 76.

Pablo Martin Benavides leads a group of four players sitting five adrift of Schwartzel heading into the weekend, the Spaniard joined by Richard Sterne, Benjamin Herbert and Joost Luiten on minus six.

A sensational round from Eddie Pepperell saw him climb 88 places on day two, the Englishman signing for a seven-under 65 to join Mark Williams and Jason Scrivener on five under.

Meanwhile it was a day to forget for Schwartzel's compatriot Werner van Niekerk, whose 86 – which included a six-over-par 10 at the 17th – was actually one stroke better than his opening round.