Bradley Dredge carded a second successive round of 66 to claim a one shot lead at the halfway stage of the M2M Russian Open.
The Welshman's flawless second round got off to a strong start when he picked up three shots in his first four holes before making another gain just before the turn.
The 42 year old notched another birdie on his back nine before safely parring the final six holes to move to ten under par.
Dredge sits one stroke clear of Lee Slattery, who staged a remarkable recovery to add a second round of 67 to his opening 66.
After carding two bogeys in his first ten holes on Friday, the 37 year old shot five birdies on the back nine to head into the weekend on nine under.
Australia's Daniel Gaunt, who held a share of the overnight lead, is a shot further back on eight under after carding four birdies and two bogeys on his way to a two under par 69.
Dredge was thrilled with his putting on day two. He said: “For me the highlight has been the putting, I’ve been putting really well.
"If I can keep that going and improve my iron play a little bit then that will be good for the weekend.
“I’m delighted. Back-to-back 66s and no dropped shots. I’m very pleased with that. Bradley Dredge
“I found the greens to be absolutely perfect today, I got the speed and got the lines spot on and I putted great today.
“If I could get two more rounds of 66 that would be tough to beat but it’s only halfway through."
Slattery opened his second round with a birdie at the first but that was wiped out when he dropped a shot at the short second.
The Englishman safely parred the next seven holes to reach the turn in 35, but another bogey at the tenth threatened to put an end to his challenge.
Slattery then rolled in his six foot birdie putt at the 11th before making another gain at the 12th to get his round back on track.
After picking up another stroke at the 14th, he closed with back-to-back birdies to add a second round of 67 to his opening 66.
Slattery, who had to battle dizzy spells during his round, reflected on a "strange" day at Skolkovo Golf Club.
“I had a really strange day on the golf course today. I hit two good shots into the first and stood over the putt and just felt a bit dizzy, which was really strange. Lee Slattery
"I managed to hole the putt and then at the next couple of holes I tried to eat a bit of food and see how I was and it got a little worse – I started to see a few dots in front of me.
“I was really a little bit worried at that stage so I called for the doctor and it turned out Tjaart van der Walt, who is a good friend of mine and who I was playing with, gave me a couple of drinks and said 'as long as you get some sugar into you, you’ll be fine', so he gave me a couple of drinks and it helped me big time.
“It started to pick up a little bit on the back nine and all of a sudden I had a bit of a sugar rush so I went a little bit faint again.
"It’s one of the most bizarre days I’ve had on a golf course but fortunately I was swinging it well and it didn’t affect my golf much.”
Ben Evans, Pablo Martin Benavides and Estanislao Goya are all on seven under par, while Scott Jamieson is among the group on six under after posting a level par 71.
