Jordan Smith will take a three-shot lead into the weekend at the Cazoo Open de France after carding a 64 on day two at Le Golf National.
The Englishman birdied five of his first six holes to hit the front and then tackled the tough back nine in 33 to get to 12 under and take control.
Scotland's Ewen Ferguson was then at nine under, two shots clear of local favourite Julien Brun, Japan's Ryo Hisatsune, Dane Nicolai Højgaard, South African Zander Lombard, England's Richard Mansell and German Yannik Paul.
Smith has been one of the DP World Tour's most consistent performers since winning the Porsche European Open in his 2017 rookie campaign, having topped the EuroPro Tour and European Challenge Tour Rankings in the two previous seasons.
He claimed two runner-up finishes and six other top tens in 2022 before finally claiming a second victory at the Portugal Masters.
He was selected for the Hero Cup in January where he won two points from his four matches and has two top tens in 2023, making his last ten consecutive cuts.
“The last few weeks have been really good, been putting lovely, so there’s a lot of confidence in there," he said. "Been doing a lot of work with my putting coach, Matt, back home and away at tournaments.
"It’s been a lot of work, lot of drills, lot of time on the putting green but the last week has been great on the putting green so it’s given me a lot of confidence."
He added: “I hit some awesome iron shots. The challenge was mainly the wind, a lot of the time it was a crosswind so you were trying to work out whether it was hurting a little bit or helping a little bit so I’m really happy with the way I’m playing.
“You’ve seen it in the past, those last few holes catch people out so it’s more of the same. Staying aggressive, greens are soft so you can go straight at the pins.”
When the morning starters had finished, overnight leader Tom Kim was in a five-way tie at the top at seven under but he quickly set about moving ahead, holing a 35-footer on the second and almost holing out for eagle from the sand on the third.
His two-shot lead soon disappeared, however, as Smith hit the birdie trail from the second with a tee-shot to 14 feet.
The 30-year-old then made a two-putt gain on the third, put an approach to tap-in range on the next and holed from 24 feet on the fifth to share the lead.
An 11-footer on the seventh had Kim back ahead and in double-figures but Smith made his fifth birdie of the day on the sixth from similar range.
Smith bogeyed the 11th but was back in a share with a smart approach to the 12th and led by two as he got inside ten feet on the 13th and hit a wonderful third into the par-five next after a ragged tee-shot.
Kim then became a victim of the famous Le Golf National closing stretch as he made a double on the 16th and treble on the last after finding water on both holes to leave Smith four ahead.
The leader dropped a shot at the 16th but yet another excellent iron shot into the next saw him regain it before he parred the last.
Kim's late troubles left Ferguson as the nearest challenger as he recovered from an opening double-bogey after finding the water in a 67.
He got up and down on the third, left himself a tap-in on the fourth and then holed a 13-footer on the fifth.
A bogey on the sixth was followed by long putts on the seventh and eighth before he got up and down on the 14th and hit an incredible shot into the last to leave himself another tap-in.
Brun carded a 66, with Lombard and Paul recording rounds of 68, Hisatsune and Højgaard signing for a pair of 69s and Mansell getting round in 70.
Japan's Kazuki Higa and English pair Matthew Southgate and Andrew Wilson were at six under, one clear of a group containing Kim, who signed for a 73.
