David Ravetto birdied the final hole of round two to take the halfway lead at the 2024 D+D REAL Czech Masters on 13 under par.
The Frenchman emerged from a four-way tie with Richie Ramsay, Jesper Svensson and Andrew Johnston, whose course-record 63 he quickly matched thanks to his final flourish on Friday at PGA National OAKS Prague.
Espen Kofstad and Brandon Robinson Thompson were a shot further back on 11 under after two days of impressive scoring on a course making its DP World Tour debut.
Ravetto’s bogey-free round started on the back nine, holing birdie putts from 12 feet at the 11th and from close range at the 13th before making eagle from beside the 16th green.
Turning to the front nine, he began with back-to-back birdies and added two more at the fourth and sixth, the latter with a 28-foot putt, before a steely seven-footer at the ninth took him out on his own.
He said: "I feel really good. I've been playing really good the last few weeks practising and today was just a perfect round. The putts fell in and I couldn’t ask for more.
"My main focus this week is to enjoy it so obviously leading the tournament after two days, I'm enjoying it right now and I feel comfortable. I'm just going to try to enjoy myself and we'll see where it goes."
Johnston made three birdies in his first four holes from the tenth and, having given a shot back at the 14th, repeated his initial scoring run with gains at the 16th, 17th and first.
Four in five holes from the fourth took him joint top until Ravetto's strong finish.
“I mean, it's such a strange game, isn't it?” said Johnston. “We've had a break, but the weeks before I've played well and holed absolutely nothing.
"And then obviously everything's gone in today and it just sums up golf.”
Svensson picked up where he left off on Thursday by holing from 21 feet for birdie at the first.
He holed short birdie putts at the fifth, ninth, 12th and 13th, although the latter came after a missed eagle chance from inside four feet.
The Swede hit the front with a nerveless seven-foot putt at the 16th and though a dropped shot followed at the next, he said: “It’s been a great first two days, it’s been a couple of tournaments now on the cut line and fighting for that so now it feels a little bit better fighting for the win."
Ramsay set the early pace thanks to a sparkling front nine of 31, with five birdies including three in a row from the fifth.
After a level-par back nine featuring two birdies and two bogeys, he said: “Just delighted with the way I’ve played, the process has been really good. Great to be at the top of the board but I've got to go and do that tomorrow.”
Robinson Thompson was bogey-free on day one until an overhit bunker shot at the 18th, and after starting Friday with a par at the tenth he got quickly back on track with three straight birdies including a 42-foot putt at the 12th.
He dropped a shot at the first but gains at the fourth and seventh kept him in the hunt to back up his Challenge Tour win at last week’s Farmfoods Scottish Challenge supported by the R&A with another on the DP World Tour.
“It’s great to be in the mix in any tournament, let alone on the DP,” he said.
“It’s easy to say but it is just another golf course. I’m the same human that played well last week, so why not come and do the same thing? But of course it’s easier said than done.”
Kofstad birdied four of his last six holes to add an impressive 65 to his opening 68 while a shot further back were Ross Fisher, Connor Syme and Bernd Wiesberger, with seven players then tied on nine under.
