Grant Forrest continued his good record at Real Club de Campo Villa de Madrid to take a one-stroke lead into the weekend at the Open de España presented by Madrid.
The Scot has twice finished tied third in Spain’s national open, in 2021 and 2024, and has never missed the cut across his six previous appearances.
He held a share of the lead after a first-round 66 and he backed it up with a 67 on Friday to reach nine under, with countryman Connor Syme and Switzerland's Joel Girrbach as his nearest challengers.
Eugenio Chacarra, who is playing on home soil with a fractured toe, and Joe Dean are both at seven under, with Danish duo Jacob Skov Olesen and Jeff Winther a shot further back, alongside French pair Martin Couvra and Victor Perez and New Zealand's Daniel Hillier.
Patrick Reed, who has led the Race to Dubai Rankings Delivered by DP World since February, missed the cut and Chacarra will leapfrog both Rory McIlroy and the American with a victory on Sunday.
Forrest arrived in the Spanish capital on the back of four consecutive missed cuts and a retirement across his five appearances so far on the Back 9, but he said after his first round that he had seen signs a good performance was coming.
He bogeyed his opening hole of the day, but birdies at the seventh and eighth after a pair of fine approaches helped him to turn in 35.
Further birdies at the tenth and 12th followed, the latter courtesy of a 32-foot putt, before he bounced back from bogeying the 13th for a second consecutive day at the next and finished with an up-and-down birdie at the last.
"It was a good, really good score in the end," he said.
"You know, I didn't have my best stuff on our first five or six holes, but made a couple of really nice par saves to keep the momentum going, and then, yeah, I just managed to make quite a few birdies.
"Started driving it well the last 12 holes and yeah, delighted with four under. I probably didn't play quite as well as yesterday."
Syme made birdies from inside of ten feet at the second and fourth, either side of a bogey, before holing his third shot from around 60 yards for an unlikely birdie at the sixth and a dropped shot at the eighth.
He then ended a run five straight pars with an up-and-down from just short of the par-five 14th and closed out his day with a birdie from just inside of 15 feet at the 18th.
"I think I'm just going to keep plugging away and doing my best," he said.
"Obviously, I had a couple of good scores there [over past two days].
"It's hard to know when a day like Thursday will come when you shoot five under for nine holes and you fly up the board, or today was a bit more plodding along and then a couple came towards the end. I'm just going to keep the foot down.
The top three players on the leaderboard at halfway were all among the morning wave on day two, with Girrbach in the very first group out.
Unlike both Forrest and Syme, the Swiss is targeting an elusive DP World Tour title and had a brilliant stretch on the front nine to thank as he climbed into contention.
After a bogey at the second, he made five straight birdies from the fourth to the eighth, before another at the tenth saw him hold the on-course lead on his own.
That was extended with a stress-free birdie at the 14th, but he gave away shots at the 16th and 17th only to finish his round on a high with a closing gain.
"I've got good memories of this place," he said, having finished third 12 months ago.
"It’s quite tight off the tee. I'm usually quite strong off the tee and keep it quite straight. So that definitely helps.
"And yeah, today I hit it quite close and I made some good putts. So that definitely helps on this course."
Chacarra, already a two-time winner of national opens this year, enjoyed a strong finish with three birdies over his final five holes to card a 69.
Dean, who won his first DP World Tour title earlier this season at the Husqvarna British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo, went bogey-free in his 67.
Couvra and Winther both signed for a 66, Rolex Series winner Perez made a hat-trick of birdies in his 68 and Hillier shot a 69 to complete the top ten.
Eddie Pepperell, who is in need of Race to Dubai points to preserve his playing rights next season, was among those to make the cut on the number at one over after birdieing his final hole in a battling 70.
