• Irish Open, Round Two

Harrington's charge overshadowed by Fisher's 61

Ross Fisher excelled on day two © Getty Images

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A charge from Padraig Harrington was overshadowed by a majestic ten-under 61 from runaway leader Ross Fisher on day two of the Irish Open.

World No. 19 Harrington made strides toward ending his two-year wait for a title by recording an elegant 67, but he finds himself five shots behind Fisher's total of 12-under.

After Fisher's outrageous 61, there seemed little chance of anyone upstaging the Englishman's efforts, but Francesco Molinari almost pulled off the unthinkable. The Italian's first three holes all produced birdies as did the fifth, seventh and ninth to leave him heading onto the back nine with only 29 strokes on his scorecard.

But the world No. 35 soon lost his momentum and he ran into trouble on the 11th. A bogey at the 13th really halted his charge before he reeled off four straight birdies to steady the creaking ship. A birdie at the last made great reading for his card and a 66 left him out on his own on nine-under in second place.

Rory McIlroy looked in the mood as he got his round off to a fast start. He headed to the eighth tee having picked up three shots before a bogey on the par-four and another, three holes later, checked his progress. The Northern Irishman hit back with further birdies but his inconsistency saw him drop a shot on 17 to ensure he signed off with a three-under 68, leaving him amongst a group of players tied on seven-under.

Harrington is one of those players, and it was a welcome return to form for the former two-time Open winner, who was forced to launch a strong defence of his game earlier this week as he maintains his battle for automatic Ryder Cup qualification. Harrington continued to bite back at his critics with a masterful performance on the greens that helped to atone for some wayward strikes from the tee.

Despite Harrington's best efforts, Fisher was destined to become the star of the second day - after beginning the day at two-under, he propelled himself into the front-running position with a glut of birdies. The world No. 36 sealed a career-low score with a remarkable run of ten birdies in 12 holes in the midsection of a superlative run that made him the man to beat at the Killarney Club. He required two birdies from his last four holes in order to become the first European in history to record a 59, but that place in history narrowly eluded him.

"It wasn't until I got onto 14 and put a good shot to five feet that I thought, 'hold on, I've got a chance here'," Fisher said. "I gave myself chances coming in, but unfortunately - sounds funny to say that - 61 was as low as it could be."

McIlroy joined a host of players including former winner Brett Rumford and Gonzalo Fdez-Castano on seven-under-par for the tournament - five shots adrift of the sharp-shooter, Fisher.

Overnight leader David Howell, who has plummeted to 479 in the world having been ranked ninth in 2006, saw his game implode under the pressure of being the frontrunner. The English player signed for a four-over 75 that saw him sink back to three-under through 36 holes.

"I played rubbish - as bad as I was good yesterday," he said. "I got off to the worst start and just swung the club poorly. I just didn't know where it was going to go and it was a case of hanging on, which I did."

US Open winner Graeme McDowell looked to be in grave danger of missing the cut when he found himself two-over with five to play, but he kept his hopes of being around for the weekend alive by rallying to reach level par.

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