Martin Kaymer moved to the top of the leaderboard during the second round of the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open in Inverness.
The 2009 winner and former US PGA Championship winner was six under for his round with six to play and one in front of Italian Francesco Molinari and Irishman Peter Lawrie.
It was some comeback after the German finished last of those who made the cut in last week's Alstom Open de France – he got that performance out of his system by weeding his grandmother’s garden on Monday.
Lawrie turned in 32 at Castle Stuart Golf Links and with a fifth birdie of the day two holes later took over at the top from Molinari.
The Italian Ryder Cup star, who opened with a course record 62, was among the later starters and in a week of low scoring it would have come as no surprise to see himself overtaken.
Lawrie has had only one European Tour victory in nearly 300 starts - it was the 2008 Spanish Open - but after teeing off in the second group of the day at 7.35am he had a hat-trick of birdies from the 13th, added a two at the 226 yard 17th and then made four on the long second.
However, a bogey at the fifth dropped him back alongside Molinari, whose brother Edoardo took the title two years ago.
Just ahead of Kaymer, who turned in 31, American star Phil Mickelson climbed from 123rd to 52nd by going to the turn in 32.
Highlight of that was sinking a 60 yard pitch to the tenth, his opening hole, for an eagle two and he then picked up birdies at the 16th and 18th.
Kaymer remained 11 under with five to go and had company - first Swede Alex Noren hit his second shot to within six feet of the flag on the 568 yard sixth and eagled, then Argentina's Ricardo Gonzalez birdied the seventh and eighth to be 11 under as well.
