Justin Harding took route 66 to surge into contention in the International Series England at Slaley Hall Hotel, Spa & Golf Resort, near Newcastle, along with teenage star Joohyung Kim.
The South African, a two-time winner on the Asian Tour, made a big move during the second round, climbing to six under par for the tournament.
Related: Shiv, SSP begin well in Slaley Hall to tail Chang Wei-lun
And it served to put behind him the frustrations of a bogey-bogey finish to his opening round.
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Harding, 36, said: “I’m in a good spot. I was a bit grumpy after yesterday’s finish – I felt like if I’d got in at three-under-par I would’ve been happy.
“I hit a lot of good shots today. I made a couple of putts but felt like I gave myself a bucket-load of chances. It could’ve been a little bit better had a few gone in – but I’m happy where I’m at tournament-wise.”
Harding shone on the front nine – the loop where scoring has been hardest for the field. He made birdies at the second (his 11th), sixth (his 15th) and eighth (his 17th) to add to a trio of gains on his outer loop on the Hunting Course.
Harding added: “I felt like I gave myself a chance on almost every hole coming in. We made three, so it was fine – I’m happy with it.
“The only one that I was having to grind on was four, which is the converted par five. That’s just a strong golf hole.”
Korea’s Kim, last season’s Asian Tour number one, tagged a 69 to his opening effort of 67.
The 19 year old said: “I wish I had a couple more, but I felt like I played pretty solid for the first two days – and you can’t win it today.”
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Kim also revealed how much he enjoyed the experience of playing alongside former US Open champion Graeme McDowell from Northern Ireland over the first two days.
He said: “You can just kind of see why he’s Graeme McDowell, major champion. You get to see the way he plays, the carries himself around. It’s a different class and I felt like I learned a lot from him. It was definitely a pleasure.”
Hot on their heels one behind is Kosuke Hamamoto (65) and Kasidit Lepkurte (70) from Thailand (65), Zimbabwe’s Scott Vincent (68), South African Neil Schietekat (68), India’s Shiv Kapur (70), and first-round leader Chang Wei-lun from Chinese-Taipei (72).
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Kapur said: “All things considered, I’m happy. I got off to a good start today. I didn’t quite hold it – a couple of three-putts on my back nine. But the front nine is the trickier side and a couple of tucked pins.
“But that’s always going to happen – to go blemish-free over 36 holes would’ve been a bit of a bonus. Overall, I’m in a good position. Hopefully the body can keep up at the weekend.”
American Sihwan Kim played his way to within striking distance of the leaders with a solid 68.
The Asian Tour Order of Merit leader moved to four under par for the tournament and for the second day in succession showed a steely touch with the putter.
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It was evident on Slaley Hall’s last green where he holed a clutch 15-footer to take momentum into ‘moving’ day tomorrow.
Kim, 33, said: “Every putt’s important and I’ve been making a lot of putts the last two days, so hopefully that will keep on going.
“If you just hit it in the fairway and get really hot with the putter on the weekend, you could just run away with this thing. Obviously, it’s easier said than done, but at the same it is possible.”
