Phillip Price moved into a two-stroke lead after a superb second round of 65 took him to 11 under par in the British Masters at Woburn.
The Welshman went past clubhouse leader Ian Poulter, who added a five-under-par 67 to his opening 68 to move to nine under par.
Phil Golding shot a 67 to go eight under, while veteran Sandy Lyle is in position to claim his first win for 10 years after a 65.
"I'm fighting a lot of gremlins of old disasters, but it's nice to be in the hunt again and I think I have a chance," said Lyle.
Colin Montgomerie had a round of 69 to leave him on five under, but he was overshadowed by playing partner Price.
 Sandy Lyle has not won for 10 years
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"If you can be a few shots in front of (Montgomerie) going into the weekend then your golf's definitely in shape," said Price. "I want to play with the best players all the time - it brings out the best in my game and I enjoy it more."
Denmark's Thomas Bjorn had to pull out with shin splints after just three holes on Friday.
And his injury could hand Poulter a Ryder Cup place if the injury-prone Dane does not recover within the next four months.
Overnight joint leader Santiago Luna could only manage a 71 and fell behind the leaders on six under par.
Denmark's Soren Hansen is also on seven under following a three-under-par 69 while Scotland's Raymond Russell carded a 70 to give him a two-round total of 138.
Second-round leaderboard (GB and Irl unless stated):
11 under - Phillip Price (after 36 holes)
9 under - Ian Poulter
8 under - Phil Golding, Santiago Luna (Spa)
7 under - Soren Hansen (Den), Sandy Lyle, Simon Khan
6 under - Raymond Russell, Thomas Levet (Fra), Robert Karlsson (Swe), Gary Evans, Santiago Luna (Spa)
Selected others:
5 under - Colin Montgomerie (36), Justin Rose (36), Sam Torrance (36)
3 under - Lee Westwood (36)
1 under - Darren Clarke (36), Padraig Harrington (36), Ian Woosnam (36)
Level - Paul McGinley (36)
Withdrew - Thomas Bjorn (Den)
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