Matt Fitzpatrick stayed on track to make it a hat-trick of wins at Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club as he followed his opening 63 with a 65 to take a one-shot lead into the weekend at the Omega European Masters.
The Englishman was champion here in 2017 and 2018 and continued his love affair on his 29th birthday as he moved to 12 under ahead of Swede Alexander Björk, who carded a 64.
Fitzpatrick's younger brother Alex was then at ten under after a 65, a score matched by Frenchman Romain Langasque who was also two shots off the lead.
A tie for seventh with one other or better will see Matt Fitzpatrick make the Ryder Cup team via the World Points List, while there are still four players who can mathematically qualify through the European Points List this week.
One of those is Adrian Meronk, who needs a tie for second with one other to have a chance and, while he shared the lead at one point on day two, a late stumble in his 64 left him at nine under alongside Ludvig Aberg and Renato Paratore - with Robert MacIntyre still on course for a place in Luke Donald's team.
Matt Fitzpatrick led by four as he turned in 30 after starting on the tenth and while he could not make further progress on the front nine, he was pleased with his day's work.
"First nine I played fantastic," he said. "Just carried on where I left off yesterday. Front nine I didn’t give myself too many chances, a little bit scrappy. A couple of pins that didn’t feel like they suited me. Disappointed to only shoot level par on the front given the scoring opportunities but in a good position going into the weekend.
"After Memphis we talked about a few things with the driver, that has been the key. My irons have been good all year, much better than they have been the last few years. Driver has always been my strength, so we knew that was what was letting me down so spent a good bit of time on that.
"Felt like we found something in Memphis, kicked on in Chicago and played pretty solid in Atlanta as well. This is the third week in a row where I feel comfortable with where it’s at and what we’ve done."
Matt Fitzpatrick put an approach to seven feet on his opener and a tee-shot to 16 feet on the next before a two-putt birdie on the 14th and an up-and-down on the 15th saw him birdie both the par fives on the back nine.
A long putt on the 18th had him in control but he dropped his first shot of the week on the third before picking the shot back up on the short par-four seventh.
His lead was trimmed to two as the morning wave finished, with brother Alex and Langasque carding a pair of bogey-free efforts, and it was reduced further by the afternoon starters.
Björk made a big move on the front nine, holing from 26 feet on the second, half that distance on the fourth and then picking up shots on the short par-four sixth after laying up, the seventh with a smart pitch and the par-five ninth after leaving himself ten feet.
A three-putt on the 13th stalled his momentum but he hit back on the back-to-back par-fives with a pair of up-and-downs to become the nearest challenger.
"It was a good day, played very solid, continued the good play from yesterday," he said. "Holed a few good putts on the front nine. Was a little bit unlucky around the turn but managed to stay patient and overall a good day.
"I don’t think the putting is that good but it’s been solid. When you have that feeling that is good, the hole doesn’t feel like a bucket but last week I found a few things that were working. It’s definitely been better than it was before the break but still feels like there is a little bit to work on."
Meronk holed a 43-footer on the first and then put a tee-shot to ten feet on the third before he left himself seven feet on the fifth, got up and down after not taking on the sixth and chipped to tap-in range on the seventh.
The Pole was inside 15 feet on the 11th and 12th and birdies on the two par-fives then moved him into a share of top spot - and a place on the Ryder Cup team as things stood.
But a three-putt on the 17th and a lost ball on the last saw him drop three shots in two holes and drop back to nine under.
Alex Fitzpatrick picked up shots on the first, third, seventh, 14th and 15th, while Langasque was level par for his round after 12 holes before birdieing the fourth and finishing with four in a row.
Italian Paratore matched Meronk's 64, while Swede Aberg carded a 67 to sit a shot ahead of Danish pair Nicolai Højgaard and Niklas Nørgaard, Malaysian Gavin Green, Dutchman Joost Luiten and Scot Connor Syme.
