Welshman Bradley Dredge leads the BMW International Open in Munich at the halfway stage.
Dredge, hoping that he might make The Ryder Cup on home soil in October, grabbed two eagles in a second round 67 which leaves him 13 under par and one ahead of Spaniard Pablo Larrazabal.
Dredge hit his second to the 11th to 12 feet and on the 481 yard sixth made a 45 footer for his second eagle.
"I think that's got to be a first for me - three eagles in the first two rounds," commented the 36 year old, who also made three on the 11th in his opening 64.
Dredge is in 29th place in The Ryder Cup race with two more months to come, but said: "I've got four big tournaments coming up, so things can change very quickly.
"Now is the time to do it. It's still mathematically possible and I'll be trying until it's not."
Larrazabal caddied for his brother Alejandro - British amateur champion at the time - in the 2003 Masters Tournament, but now the roles are reversed.
Not that the 27 year old former Open de France champion, donning a red shirt in advance of Spain's World Cup match against Chile, considers himself the star of the family.
"The British Amateur was a Major and he's in the history of the game. I'm not - yet," said Larrazabal after his second successive 66.
Compatriot Ignacio Garrido matched that score to be in third place on 11 under with Scot Peter Whiteford, while joint fifth a stroke further back are 1999 Open Championship winner Paul Lawrie, England's Kenneth Ferrie, Ireland's Simon Thornton, Thai Chapchai Nirat, Argentina's Ariel Canete and Austrian Markus Brier.
“I've been playing quite well and quite solid yesterday and today and I guess I took my chances and so that's why I made a lot of birdies,” said Garrido. “I just have to keep doing the same, giving myself chances.”
Whiteford commented: “Yesterday I didn't feel like I was swinging it well and I tried working on it on the range and I was a little bit nervous the first couple of holes. When you're not swinging it well and you're nervous, it's not good for the confidence.
“The game, it didn't feel great today but I kept bogeying, and then got them back on the birdie holes. Just doesn't feel quite there but delighted to be where I am considering. Normally I'd be 23 over at this stage, missed the cut a year over. I’m delighted, really.”
Ryder Cup Captain Colin Montgomerie and World Number Nine Paul Casey are six under, but Montgomerie is battling with a torn calf muscle and an Achilles tendon problem.
The 47 year old was able to continue after injections and painkillers, but England's Ross McGowan, fifth in The Ryder Cup race, pulled out after four holes with a recurrence of the wrist trouble he has had for a month.
Round of the day was a 63 from Stephen Gallacher. It was a 14-shot improvement on his opening effort and on four under he is in good shape to clinch an Open Championship spot along with US Open Championship runner-up Gregory Havret off a current form money list which ends on Sunday.
