Christiaan Bezuidenhout edged into a one-shot lead as round two of the Made in Denmark got under way at Silkeborg Ry Golf Club.
The South African entered the day two shots behind overnight leader Jonathan Thomson but with the Englishman not due out until the afternoon, four birdies in ten holes helped move Bezuidenhout to nine under.
Scot David Drysdale, Thai Jazz Janewattananond, England's Robert Rock and South African Erik van Rooyen were then two shots off the lead.
In the race for automatic qualification for the Ryder Cup Team, Matthew Fitzpatrick and Eddie Pepperell both made steady progress up the leaderboard in search of the win they need to potentially overtake Thorbjørn Olesen into the final spot.
Pepperell was five shots off the lead after picking up two shots in seven holes, while Fitzpatrick was one further back after making three gains in his first eight.
Local hero Olesen fired an opening 73 and was due out in the afternoon.
Bezuidenhout had shot a bogey-free 66 on day one and moved into a share of the lead with birdies on the fourth and sixth. He dropped his first shot of the week on the eighth but bounced back in style, birdieing the ninth and tenth to take top spot on his own.
Rock had moved into a share of the lead with birdies on the 11th, 12th and 15th but he dropped a shot on the 18th to turn in 34.
Drysdale also birdied the 11th, 12th and 15th with no blemishes in his first 11 holes, while Van Rooyen was bogey-free through eight having picked up shots on the third and eighth.
Janewattananond birdied the 11th and 12th in his first five holes.
English pair Matthew Baldwin and Callum Shinkwin, Spaniard Adrian Otaegui and Paraguayan Fabrizio Zanotti were all out on course at six under.
