Hideki Matsuyama leads the BMW PGA Championship by one shot at the halfway stage after firing two extraordinary eagles in his second-round 64, but he has a world-class chasing pack waiting to pounce over the weekend.
The tournament debutant found himself four shots off the lead at the conclusion of the weather-affected first round on Friday morning but soon set about closing the gap when he teed off in the afternoon.
The Major Champion turned in 31 after making an eagle and two birdies on the front nine before a run of three gains in four holes after the turn catapulted him up the leaderboard.
Matsuyama bogeyed the 15th following an errant tee-shot but bounced back in style with a chip-in eagle on the 17th to take the outright lead on 12 under par.
European Ryder Cup stars Justin Rose, Ludvig Åberg and Viktor Hovland share second place on 11 under, with Spaniard Pablo Larrazábal another stroke further back.
Home favourite Rose carded eight birdies and two bogeys in his impressive 66, while Norwegian Hovland made the same score after firing four birdies and a spectacular closing eagle.
Swede Åberg, meanwhile, signed for a 69 which featured five birdies and two bogeys.
Japanese star Matsuyama opened his birdie account at the second before slotting in his 14-foot eagle putt on the par-five fourth.
A fine approach shot on the seventh set up another birdie there before Matsuyama birdied the 11th, 12th and 14th to grab a share of the lead.
He managed to limit the damage to a single shot after taking a drop on the 15th before roaring back into the lead with one of the shots of the day at the 17th, chipping in from 14 yards away.
The World Number 16 had a good chance to extend his slender advantage on the 18th but had to settle for a par and a one-shot lead heading into the weekend.
Matsuyama said: "This is my first time playing Wentworth. I wasn't expecting I would play this good. So very happy with the round today.
"It's obviously a very challenging golf course. You know, I'm just trying to focus on my game, trying to do the same thing for tomorrow and the weekend. So looking forward to the weekend.
"I would love to achieve something big right here, but obviously the conditions are going to be changing for the weekend, so hopefully I can adjust to that and looking forward to the weekend."
