Defending champion Bernd Wiesberger took control of the Made in HimmerLand presented by FREJA as the Austrian raced into a two-shot halfway lead.
The 35-year-old, who won the title in 2019 before the 2020 event was called off amid the coronavirus pandemic, added a 65 to his opening 66 for an 11 under halfway total in Denmark.
That was two clear of his compatriot Matthias Schwab, who produced a stunning par save on the last after driving into trees down the left and having to play out on to the wrong fairway as he signed for a 66.
“I didn’t start great,” said Wiesberger, whose round included seven birdies and a single bogey.
“I felt decent. Bit disappointed with the finish today, felt like I could have gone a few deeper actually but my game was good and I’m happy with round two.
“I’m feeling good and hopefully ready for as good a weekend as the first two days.
“It’s Friday morning, just push on, push forward and hit good, decisive golf shots. Especially the way I played the front nine, which was my back nine today, I felt like there were a lot of chances coming up and I really tried to push forward and give myself a lot of looks. I didn’t do it quite as well as yesterday but it was good enough for a decent round today.”
Schwab is looking to partnering his compatriot in the final group on moving day.
“I had the rights going with my driver on the back nine and I guess I just tried to over-correct it with that tee shot and it went way left,” he said of his exploits down the 18th.
“I was blocked pretty much any direction except for the one going on the second hole, I didn’t even see the option, my caddie kind of discovered it and he paced off how far I could go. Hit a wedge up there and then 85 metres he paced it off again. He did some great work on this hole and it was nice to sink that putt.
“I made some nice putts, especially the one on the last. It is always nice to finish on a high so I hope I can take that into tomorrow.
“The start of the season has been good, some really solid top-ten finishes, I have made every cut so far this year, which is something to be a little bit proud of so things are going okay.
“I think it will be nice to play with Bernd, it has been a while since we played together. I know him quite well, he knows me quite well, so it will be a fun round.”
Sweden’s Alexander Björk is third on eight under after a 63 which included the third hole-in-one of the week on the 16th.
