James Morrison was putting together a superb second round at Wentworth Club as the Englishman moved into the lead at the BMW PGA Championship.
The 27 year old, who used to room with England batsman Alastair Cook and might have been playing at Trent Bridge rather than Wentworth Club if he had decided to stick with cricket, advanced to nine under par.
The World Number 236, who played with Cook and Tim Bresnan for England Youth, birdied the fourth and sixth and then had three more in a row from the ninth.
Scot David Drysdale and Irishman Peter Lawrie - 291st and 212th respectively in the Official World Golf Ranking - had been the overnight leaders after 66s and they were still going well.
Drysdale, whose first round had the dramatic finish of his ball going into the water and then bouncing out, turned in 33 and when he also birdied the long 12th he was alongside Morrison, but then came a bogey on the next.
Former Open de España champion Lawrie had still to drop a shot after 30 holes and picked up further strokes at the fourth and sixth.
The trio had some big guns just behind them, however. Justin Rose, who feared he might have to pull out because of dizziness before his round on Thursday, matched Lawrie's birdie and with a front nine 33 was seven under and joint fourth with recent Open de España winner Francesco Molinari.
World Number Two and defending champion Luke Donald, playing with Rose, resumed with a drive into a bunker and bogeyed the first, but he then holed from 14 feet on the next and further birdies on the fourth and fifth lifted him to six under.
Three-time BMW PGA Champion Colin Montgomerie was also making his presence felt at four under after six holes of his round, but there was some hard work later in the day for World Number One Rory McIlroy.
The 23 year old had started with a round of 74 and was trying to avoid a second successive missed cut after an early exit from the Players Championship on the US PGA Tour a fortnight ago.
Third-ranked Lee Westwood, who stood on two under par overnight, is another late starter.
Morrison found himself three strokes clear after he grabbed his sixth birdie of the day on the 13th as Lawrie, having bogeyed the 15th, and Drysdale both dropped another shot at the 16th.
Donald fluffed a pitch into a bunker on the 11th, but hit back instantly with an eagle to be in a tie for second on seven under with Drysdale and Spaniard Alvaro Quiros.
Rose took six on the long 12th, though, to slip to six under.
