Luke Donald added a 67 to his opening 65 and held a four stroke lead over Graeme McDowell midway through the Madrid Masters second round.
Joint overnight pace-setter with Welsh pair Rhys Davies and Jamie Donaldson, Donald had a chance to set the lowest 36-hole total of The European Tour season so far when he reached 14 under par with three to play.
That followed seven birdies, but he three-putted the short seventh - his 16th - and plugged in a bunker for another bogey on the next.
Twelve under for his first two days' work was still a great response, of course, to losing the BMW PGA Championship by one on Sunday after double bogeying the penultimate hole.
"I'm in a great position," said Donald. "The two bogeys were not really bad shots and it feels like I have a little better control with my irons this week."
With Davies and Donaldson among the later starters, McDowell moved into second spot with his second successive 68.
He also bogeyed the seventh and eighth after reaching ten under, but seeing that Donald had done the same eased the pain of that.
McDowell started out with an eagle three, holing out with a 113 yard pitch.
With reference to Donald's finish last weekend he said: "I'll try not to remind him of that. He's a fantastic golfer - 13th in the world."
