Rory McIlroy will head into the weekend within touching distance of the lead at the Amgen Irish Open at Royal County Down.
The Holywood star added a second-round 70 to his opening 68 to sit at four-under-par overall, just one behind early halfway leaders, Englishmen Laurie Canter and Todd Clements, who shot 68 and 71 respectively on Friday.
Playing the back nine first, McIlroy enjoyed a steady round with just the one birdie and two bogeys, but his day did burst into life - albeit briefly - when he rolled in a superb eagle put on the first hole, his 10th.
"I would have liked to have taken advantage of the easier conditions this morning," McIlroy admitted.
"Those first nine holes, you're not going to see RCD playing any easier. Then when the sun went it got a little colder and the wind started to come out of a different direction.
"It fooled me on that tee shot on the fourth and five, seven, eight and nine played tricky with that wind.
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"But it was just a matter of making sure I was here for the weekend and give myself a chance. Sort of job done for the first two days and turn my attention to the weekend.
"It’s much better than nine years ago here when I was watching the third round on TV. Happy to be here for the weekend and happy to give myself a chance."
Canter's round began with a bogey on the 10th - his first - but he dropped just one more shot all day and found five birdies to get to five-under-par overall.
Clements, who carded a superb 66 on Thursday, had a more ordinary day on Friday with two bogeys cancelling out his two birdies for an even-par round, leaving him alongside Canter on five-under-par.
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Spaniard Alejandro Del Rey briefly led by three strokes at one stage in his second round before a disastrous quadruple-bogey on the par-4 15th saw him tumble back to four-under and a tie for fourth.
Shane Lowry, meanwhile, got himself under par for the tournament with a second-round 69 after opening with 72 on Thursday.
"It's a lot easier, but still hard! Look at the scoring, people are still not out there shooting five or six under par.
"I feel like I'm back in the tournament. We're going to have a tough day tomorrow - if I can go out and shoot a good score, I'll be right there..."
Lowry, who won the title in 2009 while still an amateur, later added: "I know I can go and give it a run.
"I think it's what the tournament wants and needs. Obviously myself, and Rory is up there. It would be great if the two of us could give it a run on Sunday. You never know.
"It would be nice to go toe-to-toe on Sunday. We'll see. It’s up to me to get myself there. I’m pretty sure he’ll get there anyway."
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Tom McKibbin carded a 69 to get himself on the right side of the projected cut mark and make it through to the weekend. Conor Purcell (72, 75) and Mark Power (75, 77) will miss the cut.
Perhaps the performance of the day, however, went to amateur Seán Keeling who sealed his placed in the weekend field with a battling 72 that, coupled with his opening 70, leaves him on level-par overall.
The Roganstown golfer, playing the course the 'other' way round, endured a difficult first nine and turned three-over-par for the day.
But a fine one-under-par 34 on his inward half ensured he would not just make the weekend, but head into Saturday in touch with the leaders.
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