Justin Rose rated his game at just 50 per cent despite claiming a share of the lead in defence of his Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open title at Gullane.
Looking to become the first player to win the event two years running following his victory at Royal Aberdeen 12 months ago, Rose carded a second consecutive 66 to join Ireland's Shane Lowry and Swede Johan Carlsson in the clubhouse on eight under par.
The former US Open Champion recovered from a bogey on the first with five birdies in the next seven holes, but could only manage nine straight pars on the back nine.
The closing stretch was not without incident however, with Rose's tee shot on the 16th hitting an elderly spectator on the head.
"You can't quite see where the spectator line is on that hole and when I saw the ball bounce up I was hoping it had maybe hit one of the white stakes," Rose said.
"I was pretty concerned walking up there and seeing there was someone on the ground, but he took it like a trooper and was talking to me so that was slightly reassuring. He told me had been coming to tournaments for years and years and had never got hit before."
Speaking about his round, Rose said his game was "running at 50 per cent", adding: "There are still a couple of loose shots that I am getting away with on this course that I wouldn't on other courses.
"But I feel like I have managed my game well, played the hard holes well and kept it clean."
Playing partner Phil Mickelson, who won the 2013 Open a mile down the road at Muirfield, was in danger of missing the halfway cut when he bogeyed the 11th and 12th, but responded in style with a hat-trick of birdies from the 14th to finish three under.
Lowry, who was in contention for the US Open last month before finishing ninth, also carded his second successive 66 and credited his recent good form to a settled home life.
"I've settled down a lot and matured a lot," said Lowry, who won the 2009 Irish Open while still an amateur. "Everything in my life is a lot more stable and my golf is reaping the benefits."
Carlsson went round in a 67 which included four birdies against a single bogey.
“For me it was just pretty solid,” he said. “I continued to putt good, made some saves. I did have a few chances, though, but I made a few good par putts as well.”
The best score of the day so far had come from Chile's Felipe Aguilar, who was alongside Mickelson on three under after a 64 which featured birdies at the first and second and a hole-in-one on the third, where he holed out from 170 yards with an eight iron.
The 40 year old has a habit of brilliant bursts of scoring, winning his second European Tour title in Singapore last year with a final round of 62 at Laguna National, holing his second shot to the 18th to complete the back nine in just 28 shots.
