Henrik Stenson fired an unblemished 65 to join Raphaël Jacquelin at the top of the leaderboard midway through round two of the BMW International Open at Golf Club Gut Laerchenhof.
The Swede was forced to withdraw from last week's US Open due to injury and while he admitted after an opening 68 on Thursday that his right knee was giving him problems, he showed no sign of that out on the course.
He carded seven birdies and missed other chances as he got to 11 under and joined Jacquelin at the summit, with the Frenchman following his opening 65 with a 68.
Dane Thorbjørn Olesen was then a shot back after a second consecutive 67, with defending champion Pablo Larrazábal and South Africa's Darren Fichardt at seven under.
Jacquelin looked like he was going to continue his imperious form from day one as he picked up shots on the third, sixth and seventh before a first bogey of the week on the eighth saw him turn in 34.
The four-time European Tour winner was not affected by that disappointment, though, as he birdied the 12th and 13th before passing up a good chance on the 16th to set the clubhouse target.
Stenson had started from the tenth and he flew out of the blocks, making gains on his opener, the 12th and 13th before adding another on the 16th to turn in 32.
The 2006 champion and runner up the past two seasons then birdied the first and while he missed a golden opportunity from close range on the par five third, birdies on the fourth and seventh saw him hit the summit.
Olesen had kept himself well in the hunt with birdies on the tenth, 13th, 15th and first but when he bogeyed the seventh, he had fallen three off the lead.
The Alfred Dunhill Links Championship winner is made of stern stuff, however, and a brilliant birdie-birdie finish moved him just a shot off the lead.
Larrazábal had a rollercoaster of a round, quickly moving up the leaderboard with three birdies from the 11th before a double on the 15th and bogey on the 17th moved him back to square one.
Birdies on the first, third, seventh and eighth represented an excellent recovery from the Spaniard before a closing bogey, while Fichardt had five birdies and two bogeys in his round.
Swede Johan Carlsson went bogey free as he started with three birdies before adding another on the 15th to get to six under, alongside Dane Anders Hansen - out of retirement for this event - who carded six birdies and two bogeys.
Oliver Fisher was also at six under five holes into his second round, a shot clear of Richard Bland who fired a 68 and later starters Felipe Aguilar and Zander Lombard.
Masters Tournament winner Danny Willett fired a 70 to get to level par and faced an anxious wait to see if he would make the cut.
