Joost Luiten carded a second round 68 at the Lyoness Open powered by Greenfinity to set the clubhouse target at Diamond Country Club.
The Dutchman’s four under par effort took him to 11 under for the week, one ahead of England’s Paul Waring, with his compatriot overnight leader Tom Lewis dropping four shots off the pace after following his stunning opening 63 with a two over par 74.
Lewis held a two shot lead overnight thanks to a flawless first round, but with 65 players breaking par on day one there were plenty of players in the chasing pack.
Dutchman Luiten had been the nearest challenger following a 65 on Thursday and the 27 year old moved alongside Lewis with three birdies and one bogey in his first six holes.
Lewis, who shot to fame with the lowest round by an amateur in Open Championship history (65) to share the lead after the opening round at Sandwich in 2011, had made the ideal start with a birdie on the first.
But the 22 year old followed that with a bogey on the second and after another birdie on the third, also dropped a shot on the fifth.
Waring, who enjoyed the first top-five finish of his European Tour career in the Open de España in April, birdied the ninth to be out in 33 and picked up further shots at the 11th and 12th.
That briefly took him into the outright lead on ten under par, but Luiten soon joined him on that mark by making amends for missing from four feet on the third - his approach having almost pitched into the hole - with a birdie from even closer range on the fourth.
Lewis was three off the lead after bogeys at the seventh and tenth while Waring, playing on a medical exemption after an operation on a serious wrist injury, moved back into the lead with a birdie on the 13th.
But the 28 year old then hit his drive on the next into the water to the right of the fairway and eventually had to hole from five feet to salvage a bogey.
He responded superbly with a tee shot to three feet to set up a birdie on the 15th, but then three-putted the 16th to drop back to ten under.
That left Luiten to set the clubhouse target on 11 under thanks to a birdie on the seventh.
“It was good,” said Luiten. “I hit some nice shots in close for birdie. I didn’t make as many putts as yesterday but I’m really happy with the score. On this course you know you’re going to make a few bogeys but there are a lot of chances for birdie as well. You just have to try to stay patient and I think I did that well today.
“The greens are great, maybe the best of the season. They’ve had a lot of rain but they’re still probably the best greens we’ve played on this year. They hold the shots going in and they are quick. What a good job they’ve done here.
“You have to play smart on some holes and it’s playing long. The rough is very tough.”
Scotland’s Callum Macaulay finished with three birdies in his last four holes to join Waring on ten under par, and as the afternoon starters got underway Miguel Angel Jiménez set about breaking his own record as The European Tour’s oldest winner.
The 49 year old Spaniard had three birdies in his first six holes to move to eight under for the tournament.
Macaulay has made just one cut this season since coming through Qualifying School, and admitted his good form had come out of the blue.
“It’s unchartered waters for the last two or three years, and if I’m being honest it’s come out of nowhere,” he said. “I’ve had a really poor start to the season and I’ve worked exceptionally hard to improve, but things haven’t been going my way.
“I did a lot of work last weekend in Sweden with Scott Arnold, who also missed the cut, and he made a couple of suggestions. It was very simple – I was delofting my irons on the way back and not getting any height. It’s taken a lot of repetition and it still feels a little bit funny, but I just need to keep hitting balls and get more comfortable.
“This sport can change in a heartbeat and you have to keep plodding along hoping things will turn. This is a big step in the right direction.
“I’ve got my brother caddying for me this week and he’s always pretty cool no matter what. It’ll be new for me playing in the last few groups in a European Tour event, but that’s why we play the game. We want to get better every week.”
