Warren Bennett moved into the halfway lead of the Volvo Scandinavian Masters with a second round 70 at Kunsangen for a six under par total of 136, one clear of the chasing pack of five players.
First round leader Graeme McDowell, Swedish pair Carl Pettersson and Fredrik Andersson, former Ryder Cup player Ignacio Garrido and South African Trevor Immelman are all just a shot off the pace going into the weekend.
Bennett looked to be heading into trouble on the 15th after badly mishitting his drive as he went for the green on the 297 yard par four but it clattered into a tree and came down 30 yards short of the green. From there he pitched to two feet for an unlikely third birdie of the round.
“That was my get out of jail free card," said Bennett "It was heading for the jungle, you'd rather be in the water than in there.
"It's great to be in contention again, the same old juices get flowing," added Bennett, who has been plagued by injury problems. "The greens are very severe with the slopes and they have tucked away the pins because the course is short (6,761 yards) and that's its defence. But there is a good score out there, I know I have to shoot a decent score tomorrow."
Defending champion Colin Montgomerie was surprised to find himself one of more than 20 players within three shots of the lead after adding a 69 to his opening 70.
"Rounds of 70, 69 is not very good but I'm in the top 15 and poised to challenge. If we just keep improving we will be okay. Today I played a lot better. I played the more difficult back nine in two under and the front, which is easy for us, in level which was a bit disappointing, but I am in there and a good round tomorrow will give me a chance of winning this. I haven't won for a year and I need to win. The game has not quite been as good as it was but you need to get fortunate.”
