Robert Rock completed a bogey-free opening 36 holes for the first time in his European Tour career to claim the halfway lead at the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open on a day which saw the Gullane course record broken twice.
Rock added a flawless 63 to his opening 64 to record a 13 under par 127 total - the lowest on the European Tour this season.
That was one clear of his fellow Englishman Tyrrell Hatton and Sweden's Jens Dantorp, with Scotland's Connor Syme lowering the course record to 62 in the morning before Japan's Hideto Tanihara carded a 61 late in the day.
Rock, who made five birdies in his first eight holes and then added further gains on the 12th and 16th, said: "My swing didn't feel as good today but I managed to get a better score out of it which surprising but that is part of the four-round process.
"If you can do that when you don't feel quite as good, that's something. That gave me a bit of hope because I know generally, four days, I don't get four days of everything feeling great.
"I generally have three days of feeling great and one iffy one. I hope this was the iffy one; it might not be, but I'm used to that sort of scenario happening over four days.
"I'm pleased that I managed to turn out a good score and had some things go my way to help me do that.
"Not dropping shots makes you feel like you're playing proper golf, smart golf and your bad shots aren't really bad. My short game is kind of healthy at the moment. You need two, really, to save par. Yesterday I only missed one green and I chipped in and that was pretty cool.
"Today wasn't obviously as good tee-to-green but I did make some good up-and-downs, and my long putting has been good, which this type of golf demands, really. I have a lot of 40- and 50-foot putts, when you're in the fairway or you don't hit a great approach shot, you put it on the front edge or back edge and you lag those up and two-putt is what you're after. So far, so good.
"If I play another two good rounds, I shouldn't be too far away. But if some guys shoot, I don't know, same sort of scores, they will be tough to catch."
Hatton fired a flawless 64, the highlight a chip-in on 15, as he chases a second Rolex Series crown and third title over a Scottish links set-up.
He said: "If I can play like that and score that well, then that's obviously really good. So I'll take a bit of confidence from that and hopefully have a good weekend."
Dantorp threatened to grab a share of the lead when he carded a sixth birdie of the day on the 16th, but a bogey on the lst saw him sign for a 65.
