Tommy Fleetwood fired a birdie at the 18th to claim a share of the halfway lead at the 2017 US Open Championship.
The Englishman, playing in his second US Open, followed up Thursday's 67 with a second-round 70 to join countryman Paul Casey and Americans Brooks Koepka and Brian Harman on seven under par.
First-round leader Rickie Fowler was among the group another stroke back in a tie for fifth after three consecutive bogeys on the back nine saw him fall from the top of the leaderboard.
Meanwhile, Japan's Hideki Matsuyama notched seven birdies and no bogeys in a stunning 65 to head into the weekend on five under, alongside amateur Cameron Champ.
Afternoon starter Fleetwood, who won his second European Tour title at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in January, began the day two shots behind Fowler and fell further off the pace when he missed his par putt at the first.
But after pulling off a good par save at the third, Fleetwood picked up his first shot of the day at the next to get back to five under.
He made further gains at the seventh and 12th before coming agonisingly close to adding another at the 15th.
World Number 33 Fleetwood dropped his second shot of the day at the 17th but held his nerve to finish with a birdie after holing his tricky ten foot putt.
Fleetwood is looking forward to the weekend. He said: "It's going to be great.
"Like I said, I've never done this before. I've never led a US Open, so tomorrow will be a very cool experience.
"It's still Saturday, 36 holes is a very long time in a US Open. Anything can happen, there are always ups and downs out there.
"But I think with how long the course is and how long the days are, I'm not sure. I won't worry."
Casey set the early clubhouse target when he produced a superb 71 in the morning to get to seven under.
The Englishman, beginning his round at the tenth tee, had looked likely to fall out of contention after dropping five shots in four holes from the 12th - including a triple bogey eight at the 14th - but he bounced back in style, firing five birdies in a row.
After his round, Casey said: "It's not every day you enjoy a round of golf with an eight on the card but I'm a pretty happy man.
"It was a bit of a roller coaster.
"There is a lot of golf to be played here. I've shown what can happen with one bad swing. So you've got to be very, very patient and stay in the moment.
"I know it's a cliché, but the last thing you need to be doing is thinking ahead, especially on this golf course."
Koepka, starting at the tenth tee, made gains at the 11th, 12th, 14th and 16th to get to nine under but bogeys at the first and sixth saw him sign for a second-round 70.
Harman, meanwhile, carded three birdies and a single bogey in his 70.
World Number Two Rory McIlroy will not be in action at the weekend after he mixed five birdies with four bogeys in his second-round 71 to get to five over par, while defending champion Dustin Johnson also missed the cut after Friday's 73 took him to four over.
