A strong finish has moved Callum Shinkwin into a position to challenge the higher reaches of the DP World Tour Championship leaderboard after he shot a three-under-par second round of 69.

The Bushey golfer had looked on track for a second successive even-par round of 72 in the finale to the European Tour season in Dubai, but a birdie three on 16 and an eagle at the par five 18th have moved the 24-year-old into a four-way tie for 26th place at the halfway stage.

Shinkwin will begin the third round seven shots behind leader and defending champion Matthew Fitzpatrick, but he is within three of the likes of Race to Dubai leader Tommy Fleetwood, who is in a tie for 11th on six-under.

The Moor Park Golf Club professional started solidly and moved to one-under with a birdie on the par five seventh, only to double bogey the par four ninth for the second consecutive day.

This year’s Scottish Open runner-up instantly recovered one of those dropped shots with a three at 10 to move back to level-par, before his birdie-par-eagle finish saw Shinkwin improve on his first round standing by 14 places.