America's Tommy Gainey hit a second impressive round at the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro to take a three shot lead as Ernie Els boosted his FedEx Cup chances.
Gainey, who has never won on the US PGA Tour, added a five under 65 to go with his opening day 63 to reach the halfway point 12 under par.
Jeff Quinney started the day sharing the lead with Gainey but could only manage an even round and he ended the day tied for tenth.
Gainey, though, picked up four strokes on the front nine, with two birdies on the back nine countered with a single bogey.
A group of four were level second on nine under par, with Webb Simpson, Stuart Appleby and Daniel Summerhays joining Els in the chasing pack.
Simpson eagled the par five fifth for the second time in a row, while Australian Appleby had an up-and-down round that included six birdies and three bogeys.
Veteran Els started badly with a bogey at the first but finished four under for the day.
One shot further back at eight under are a second group of four - South Africa's Retief Goosen, England's Paul Casey, Brazil's Alexandre Rocha and America's Jim Furyk.
The cut mark was set at three under, leaving a host of big-name players on the outside.
Among those ousted after 36 holes were Boo Weekley, Anthony Kim, Bill Haas, Angel Cabrera and Ian Poulter.
