Søren Kjeldsen and Matthew Fitzpatrick may be at very different stages in their European Tour careers but they were both at the top of the leaderboard heading into the weekend at the British Masters supported by Sky Sports.
Fitzpatrick came into the second round with a one-shot lead over the field and added a 69 to his opening 64 to sit nine under alongside Kjeldsen, who got round Woburn in 68 shots on Friday.
That left the pair one shot clear of Richard Bland and Kiradech Aphibarnrat, who both fired second consecutive 67s.
Kjeldsen turned 40 in May and is searching for a second title of the year and a fifth of his career in his 506th event while 21 year old Fitzpatrick has played 33 European Tour tournaments and is looking for a maiden victory.
The two do have similarities, though, as both holed stunning shots from off the green on the third on their way to five birdies, with the Englishman dropping one more shot than his Danish co-leader.
Kjeldsen set the target in the morning, beginning with six pars but then dropping a shot on the 16th before gaining it back on the next. A birdie followed on the first but, after dropping a shot on the second, his round came to life as he chipped in from a bunker on the third.
Another gain followed on the fifth and when Kjeldsen put his tee shot on the par three sixth to within six feet, he rolled in the putt to become the first man this week to get to nine under.
The Dubai Duty Free Irish Open champion has finished in the top ten four times since winning in Ireland, including the last two weeks, but he does not believe he is at his best.
"I haven't looked at any boards, I didn't even realise I was leading," said Kjeldsen, who is 13th in the Race to Dubai.
"I just want to keep doing what I'm doing, I'm enjoying myself going through the process and I'm hitting some nice shots.
It's been really good the last six months but I've been to 31 in the world and right now I'm 59 so to be able to say that I'm better than ever I need to climb that ladder - Søren Kjeldsen
"I certainly need to get better than what I am, that's for sure but when it comes to Race to Dubai and World Rankings, I try not to look too much. I try and improve every day and analyse and adjust every day and do the best I can do.
"The other guys, I can't tackle them, I can't steal their ball, I can't do anything about it so I may as well just concentrate on my stuff."
Overnight leader Fitzpatrick played his first nine holes in level par thanks to two birdies and two bogeys and another bogey followed on the first before he hit arguably the shot of the week so far. From the edge of the third green, he hit a two-foot chip beyond 45 degrees of the hole and watched it roll into the cup on the heart of the putting surface.
The 2013 US Amateur champion had eagled the seventh on Thursday and made birdie to get within a shot of the lead before a closing birdie took him back to the top with Kjeldsen.
Nobody on The European Tour has more than Fitzpatrick's four top threes this season but he insists the possibility of a first win is not playing on his mind.
"I wouldn't say it's something I'm concentrating on to be fair," he said. "I'm just playing one hole, one round at a time if I'm honest and the big thing me and (manager) Chubby (Chandler) have been talking about is just creeping up the World Rankings as much as possible.
"If the win doesn't come this week but I move up in the World Rankings, that's good enough for me so if I can just keep moving up slowly that will be great."
Bland completed a remarkable turnaround as he started with two bogeys and then began suffering from back pain around the fourth hole. He was not deterred, however, and birdied the seventh and the ninth before pitching in for eagle on the 11th.
The 42 year old then had some treatment on the 12th tee and picked up two more shots on the way in to sit a shot off the lead.
Aphibarnrat registered six birdies and two bogeys in his round to sit alongside Bland with three players a further shot back in the group at seven under.
Bradley Dredge, Robert Karlsson and Shane Lowry will all go into the weekend two shots behind with Mikael Lundberg, Lee Slattery, Andy Sullivan, Marc Warren and Fabrizio Zanotti at six under.
Robert Rock fired the low round of the day with a 65 to sit five under, a shot clear of tournament host Ian Poulter.
