Sam Horsfield kept his head in front as he gained a one stroke lead at the halfway mark following a sparkling second round of 64 at the 2020 Celtic Classic.
The Englishman claimed his maiden European Tour title at the Hero Open two weeks ago and he maintained his momentum to sit one shot clear of first round leader Thomas Pieters at The Celtic Manor Resort.
Horsfield kickstarted his surge up the leaderboard courtesy of four consecutive birdies around the turn but it could have been even better for the 23-year-old Florida based player.
He was leading Callum Shinkwin and Andrew Johnston by three shots as he stood at the tee of the penultimate hole of his second round.
However, a wayward tee shot at the 17th found thick rough, which needed two efforts to reach the fringe of the green before three putting for a triple bogey six and dropping back in co-leadership alongside his fellow Englishman.
Horsfield hit back in style though, as he dialled his approach with a five wood to 12 feet and when he drained the eagle putt, he was clubhouse leader at 11 under par.
"It was actually funny, we had the exact same number into 17 at Forest of Arden when I won and hit that shot," Horsfield said.
"So I hit the exact same shot and made the putt for eagle (on 18). 17 was not great, but to bounce back after making the triple I've got myself in a good position for tomorrow.
"I've been in contention before, and to get it done and get it over the line. I've been there a few weeks ago and I know what the feelings are like. I'm really looking forward to it."
The World Number 133 began the day with a birdie-bogey-birdie start before picking up another shot at the fifth to get to six under.
He began his birdie blitz at the ninth to move within one shot of leader Shinkwin, who went out in the opening group of the day.
Shinkwin carded three birdies and a bogey on his first six holes before rounding off his front nine with back to back gains to sit at seven under alongside Pieters, who started in the afternoon.
Shinkwin moved into the lead with a birdie at the 11th, only for Horsfield to close the gap once again after dialling his approach to four feet at the tenth for another gain.
A 64 with a triple-bogey ✍️#CelticClassic #GolfForGood pic.twitter.com/SLxCVQgjeZ
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) August 14, 2020
Horsfield completed his hat-trick of birdies at the 11th and gained control of the leaderboard, however, he was not alone for long.
Shinkwin parred his way home until the last, where he recorded his seventh birdie of the day to set the clubhouse mark at nine under.
Horsfield continued the gain train though, as he stuck his approach to seven feet at the 12th and when he rolled the subsequent birdie putt, he took the outright lead.
He reached the short par four 15th in one and two putted to extend his lead before he holed out a sublime bunker shot at the next for his ninth birdie to get to 12 under.
A triple bogey at the 17th could have derailed him but his superb eagle at the last helped him card a seven under par 64 as Pieters mounted his challenge.
The Belgian recorded an opening bogey, only to pick the shot up at the next but he had to wait until the 11th to make an impact on the leaderboard.
Pieters, the highest ranked player in the field, holed out a birdie putt before he arrowed an approach to six feet for another at the 12th hole, joining Shinkwin at nine under.
He pushed his par putt at the next to drop back to eight under but sent another approach at the 14th pin for a tap in birdie from three feet.
The four time European Tour winner found the bunker on the short par four 15th but scooped out to six feet, where he drained for another gain.
At this point, he was one behind Horsfield and he piled on the pressure with a superb tee shot into the par three 17th and converted the 12 foot birdie putt to sit at the summit with the Englishman.
The big hitting Belgian, playing his first event in nearly five months, went chasing for the outright lead at the last as he tried to find the green in two but found water.
He had the chance to save par from 15 feet but could not find the cup as he finished the round with a bogey to reach the halfway point at ten under.
"I don’t know Sam, but he won two weeks ago. So he’s a good player. I’m looking forward to it - I just want to play golf at this point. Bring on tomorrow," Pieters said.
Johnston carded five under par in his final four holes to surge into contention in a roller coaster second round in Newport.
A triple bogey seven at the opening hole and a dropped shot at the fifth saw the 31-year-old slide back to even par before he birded four of the next six holes from the sixth to return to four under.
A brilliant eagle two at the 15th saw him trend upwards before draining a lengthy putt for a gain at the next. His irons were deadeye at the last two holes, dialling into three feet and two feet respectively for tap in birdies to reach nine under.
Thomas Detry, who narrowly lost out to Horsfield at the Hero Open, has yet to drop a shot in south Wales as he goes in search of his maiden European Tour crown.
The Belgian went one better than his opening round 67 as he rolled in five birdies at the third, ninth, 11th, 15th and 18th to sit in a tie for third with Shinkwin and Johnston.
Australian Jake McLeod, Matthew Jordan, American Sean Crocker and Northern Ireland's Jonathan Caldwell were one shot adrift at eight under, while Spaniard Nacho Elvira, home favourite Rhys Enoch, Scot Connor Syme and Swede Sebastian Soderberg sneaked into the top ten at seven under par.
