Henrik Stenson made a major move up the leaderboard as the second day of the BMW International Open got under way at Golf Club Gut Laerchenhof.
The Swede has an excellent record in this event, taking the title in 2006 and finishing runner up in the past two seasons, and he began with a 68 on Monday to sit three shots behind first-round leader Raphaël Jacquelin.
The Frenchman kept hold of his lead in the morning - when 48 minutes were lost to the threat of lightning - as he played his first 11 holes in two under par to get to nine under for the week.
But Stenson was on the birdie trail, picking up four shots in his first eight holes to sit just one behind the leader alongside Denmark's Thorbjørn Olesen.
Jacquelin picked up where he had left off on Thursday, making birdies on the third, sixth and seventh before dropping his first shot of the week on the eighth.
Stenson had to withdraw from last week's US Open through injury and while he admitted after day one that he was feeling his right knee a little, that did nothing to halt his progress.
The World Number Seven birdied three of his first four holes with gains on the tenth, 12th and 13th before adding another on the 16th.
Olesen was three under for his round after eight holes with birdies at the tenth, 13th and 15th.
England's Oliver Fisher was then among the later starters at six under, a shot clear of a group of six players, led by Mikko Ilonen who had an eagle at the 13th and birdies at the 14th and 15th to make a big move in his second round.
Masters tournament champion Danny Willett was one under for his round after eight holes as he fought back from an opening 74.
