Danny Lee, the European Tour’s second youngest winner, led Matteo Manassero – the man who broke his record - on day two of the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open in Inverness.
Italy's Manassero became the youngest winner in European Tour history when he claimed the Castello Masters in 2010 aged 17 years and 188 days and added further titles in each of the next three seasons.
The last of those came in the prestigious BMW PGA Championship in 2013 and helped Manassero reach a career-high of 25th in the Official World Golf Ranking, but the 23 year old arrived in Scotland 596th in the world after just two top-ten finishes since the start of 2014.
A share of 12th in the Nordea Masters and 13th in the BMW International Open recently showed welcome signs of improvement and after an opening 71 in "brutal" conditions at Castle Stuart Golf Links, Manassero added a 67 in much better weather to share second with Branden Grace, a shot behind clubhouse leader Lee.
"It was still tough but yesterday was brutal," Manassero said after a round containing six birdies and a solitary bogey on the 17th. "I played solid just like yesterday.
"The fact there is a little less wind allowed me a few more chances for birdie that I converted and it just ended up being a good round. - Matteo Manassero
"It's exciting, of course, being up on the leaderboard and when it's by playing well and not just by scrambling well or by some sort of escape, it's even more exciting and I'm happy.
"It has been really hard with a lot of ups and downs, mainly downs. It's something that starts with little things and when you have never really played badly before, it's hard and you keep going down."
Lee, who won the Johnnie Walker Classic while still an 18 year old amateur, carded six birdies in a flawless 66 to set the target on seven under par.
And as well as boosting the New Zealander's prospects of a second European Tour title, it also meant good news for the people affected by the devastating floods which forced the US PGA Tour to cancel this week's Greenbrier Classic.
Denied the chance to defend his title, Lee decided to play in Scotland but donate money for every birdie (500 US dollars) and eagle (1,000 US dollars) he makes to the flood-relief efforts in West Virginia.
Further down the leaderboard, 2013 champion Phil Mickelson had recovered from two early bogeys to add a 69 to his opening 76 and finish on the projected cut mark of one over par.
"I didn't get off to a very good start and that was disappointing because I needed to after my round yesterday," said Mickelson, who drove the green on the short 16th and holed from four feet for an eagle.
"Instead of being one or two under through the first four holes where there were some birdie holes, I was two over.
"But I was able to fight back and get it back to one over and tomorrow it's supposed to be pretty nice in the morning and get a little tough in the afternoon. You never know, if I get a hot round, I may have a chance on Sunday."
South African Grace matched Manassero’s 67 with a round which included seven birdies and two bogeys, while two-time Open Champion Padraig Harrington sat fourth on five under following a round of 69.
