Byeong Hun An delighted home fans with a second round of 66 to move into a two-shot lead at the halfway stage of the Genesis Championship.
The World Number 36 was a huge draw for local crowds alongside Tom Kim, both of whom recently represented South Korea at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, and they showed their class with great displays on Friday in Incheon.
An had rolled in seven birdies and two bogeys to sit one adrift of overnight leader Ivan Cantero before pressing the accelerator during the second day at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea.
He added another eight birdies and two dropped shots to climb to the summit at 11 under, with Italian Francesco Laporta and South Africa's Casey Jarvis at nine under and four players sitting one shot further back.
"I feel like I made a lot of putts of ten-footers, 15-footers so I think that helps for making birdies," An said. "They weren't the easiest of putts, but I've rolled in some nice putts in the last two days.
"I love to see the fans out here cheer for me. It doesn't matter whether things go well for me or not, they are still there.
"Coming into this week I really didn't have any expectations, I just always try my best. I really do like this home support. Hopefully there will be more people this weekend and I can feed off from them.
"It would be nice to hold the trophy at the end of the day but I haven't been here for the last five years - six years in a tournament - so all I'm trying to do is show some good golf because they don't see much of me, so I'll try my best and see what happens."
An made his assault at the top of the leaderboard with a brilliant approach at the opening hole and completed a birdie-birdie start with a putt from 15 feet as he climbed to seven under.
Another birdie followed at the fourth from nine feet, but he slipped back thanks to bogeys at the fifth and sixth.
He responded by picking up a shot at the seventh before attacking the ninth pin and draining another putt to join the lead at eight under alongside Japan's Rikuya Hoshino, who was in the clubhouse after a 67.
Leading on home soil 🇰🇷@ByeongHunAn cards rounds of 67-66 to take control in Incheon. #GenesisChampionship pic.twitter.com/2ibQODIUSM
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) October 25, 2024
An landed his approach to 15 feet at the 11th, which was the playing the hardest of the course, but when he drained his sixth birdie of the day, he was the outright leader.
However, he was swiftly joined by Laporta. The Italian, starting on the back nine, birdied his first two holes before bogeying the 12th.
He hit back with a 14-footer at the 14th and picked up a shot at the 18th to advance to five under. Laporta surged into contention thanks to a hat-trick of gains from the second and climbed to nine under with his eighth birdie of the day at the seventh.
But just as An was put under pressure, the South Korean regained top spot on his own when he birdied the par-five 15th and doubled his advantage at 11 under with a 13-foot effort at the next.
An was wayward off the last tee, but he salvaged par to maintain his two-shot lead into the weekend.
Jarvis mixed seven birdies with three dropped shots to join Laporta at nine under in a share of second place.
Portugal's Ricardo Gouveia, who began the week in 154th on the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex, improved his chance of retaining his playing rights after carding six birdies and a bogey to reach eight under.
American Johannes Veerman was also at that mark following a matching 67 alongside Hoshino and Cantero in a tie for fourth.
Kim was flawless in his three-under round of 69 to lead a trio at seven under, with Alejandro Del Rey and Matthew Southgate, another player battling to save his card.
Marco Penge, who was in 115th position heading to South Korea, nervelessly birdied the last to make the cut on the line and boost his chances playing on the DP World Tour next year.
