Matteo Manassero carded the lowest round of his DP World Tour career with a stunning 61 to take a one-shot lead into the weekend at the Jonsson Workwear Open.
The Italian made two eagles and seven birdies in an 11-under-par effort to get to 15 under on a day with lots of low scoring after heavy rain had put preferred lies in place.
Home favourite Oliver Bekker was the nearest challenger after a 65, a shot clear of Spain's Angel Hidalgo and Northern Ireland's Tom McKibbin, who both fired rounds of 64, and another Spaniard in Ivan Cantero, who signed for a 67.
All the headlines belonged to Manassero, however, whose previous lowest rounds of 62 and 63 were both achieved at the 2010 UBS Hong Kong Open.
His 61 in round two at Glendower Golf Club was his lowest round to par on the DP World Tour by three shots and put him in pole position to complete a winding, near 11-year journey back to the winner's circle.
He rose to fame as a 17-year-old when he became the youngest winner in DP World Tour history at the 2010 at the Castelló Masters Costa Azahar - a record he still holds.
Further victories were secured in each of the next three seasons, culminating in him lifting the trophy at Wentworth in the 2013 BMW PGA Championship but he narrowly lost his card five years later, making just one cut in his 18 starts in 2019.
A win on the Alps Tour in 2020 restored some confidence and after two more triumphs on last season's European Challenge Tour, he has restored his playing privileges and sits 85th on the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex.
"This is a long road and of course I'm happy with a round like this but it's today, tomorrow's tomorrow and I don't look behind very much, even if we tend to sometimes," he said. "So I just look ahead and try to improve the process, get better and see what comes.”
After opening his round on the back nine with a birdie-eagle-birdie start, Manassero added two further birdies at the 15th and 16th holes before carding a second eagle of the morning at the 17th to turn in an eight-under-par 28.
He put his approach to eight feet at the second and then made a birdie after laying up at the par-five fourth and added another at the sixth, with a missed close-range opportunity at the eighth essentially ending his chance of carding a 59.
“I was at one point as well to be fair," Manassero said of thinking about the magic number.
"I mean, I never even came close to touching 11 under so it's been the best round I've had in my life, I guess. I couldn't be happier."
Also starting on the tenth, Bekker began with two birdies and added further gains on the 13th, 15th, 17th and 18th, with a bogey on the 14th.
He traded two birdies with two bogeys to start his back nine but took advantage of the sixth and left himself eight feet at the ninth.
Cantero made a flying start, leaving around ten feet at the tenth for birdie and then five feet for eagle at the 11th.
A dropped shot at the 14th did little to stall his momentum as he once again went birdie-eagle from similar ranges on the 16th and 17th before making a bogey on the 18th.
Hidalgo made eight birdies in a blemish-free round, while McKibbin was also bogey-free in making an eagle and six birdies.
South African Shaun Norris and England's Jordan Smith carded a pair of 66s to sit at 12 under, one clear of France's Ugo Coussaud, South Africa's Casey Jarvis and Dane Niklas Nørgaard.
