Rasmus Højgaard sent a daunting message to the chasing pack after his stunning 64 saw him climb to the summit at the Danish Golf Championship.
The home favourite began the day two shots adrift of overnight leader Marco Penge, but he laid down a marker by matching the Englishman's course record to lead the way at Furesø Golf Klub.
The 24-year-old is the highest ranked player in the field at 79th in the Official World Golf Rankings and he showed his quality during a sensational spell of scoring around the turn to take the outright lead by two strokes at 12 under par.
Penge, who was flawless in his seven-under 64 on Thursday, was the Dane's closest challenger at ten under, with Canada's Aaron Cockerill sat a further three shots back in third.
"To be honest, I didn’t feel like I was attacking that much," Højgaard said.
"I was putting the ball in play off the tee. Hitting the middle of the green for the most part of the round.
Rasmus Højgaard gives himself a four shot lead after a second round 64 📈#DanishGolf
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) August 15, 2025
"Towards the end of the first nine I made a birdie and an eagle and that sort of somewhat got the round going. After that I made quite a few birdies.
"I didn’t try to do too much out there. I was just striking the ball well, had an idea of where it was going and set up a lot of chances."
Højgaard, starting on the back nine, had to be patient as he began his second round with six straight pars before birdieing the 16th.
The 2023 champion then clicked into top gear when he eagled the par five 18th after an excellent approach with a five iron to three feet.
Four successive birdies followed from the first to reach 12 under before briefly inflating his lead to six shots with another gain at the sixth.
All he had to do was par his way home to set a new course record, however, an errant tee shot at the eighth blotted his copybook as he signed for a 64 - equalling Penge's first round score.
Cockerill mixed three birdies and three bogeys before eagling the last in his 69 to sit in the clubhouse at seven under alongside Penge, who had yet to tee off in the afternoon.
The 27-year-old made a fast start with birdies at first, third and fifth as he trimmed Højgaard's advantage to two, only to drop his first shot of the week at the ninth.
Penge bounced back immediately with a birdie at the tenth - the hardest hole on the course - but missed a par putt from three feet at the 12th to slip back to nine under.
A superb approach at the 16th saw the Englishman return to double figures, only to hand that shot back at the next before birdieing the last to sit two behind Højgaard at the halfway stage.
Niklas Norgaard, who hails from Copenhagen, shares fourth place with Austria's Maximilian Steinlechner and Frenchman Adrien Saddier at six under.
Dane Jeppe Kristian Andersen is one shot further back alongside Sweden's Mikael Lindberg, Spaniard Alfredo Garcia-Heredia, Australia's Jason Scrivener and Italy's Gregorio De Leo.
De Leo hit the first hole-in-one of the tournament, and 15th of the 2025 DP World Tour campaign, when he used a seven iron from the 181 yards at the fifth during his second round of 69.
