Jon Rahm and Danny Willett will share the lead heading into the weekend at the BMW PGA Championship after another glorious day at Wentworth Golf Club.
Huge crowds and stunning autumn weather were once again the order of the day at the fourth Rolex Series event on the 2019 Race to Dubai and Englishman Willett delighted the home crowds with a 65 to set the target at 11 under.
But Rahm - making his debut at European Tour HQ - is already a three time Rolex Series champion and he eagled the last to sign for a 67 and join the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai champion at the summit.
Fellow Rolex Series winner Justin Rose was two shots back alongside 2016 Open Champion Henrik Stenson and South Africa's Christiaan Bezuidenhout.
Rahm revealed after his opening 66 that he had already fallen for the charms of the tree lined West Course and he is eager to extend his incredible Rolex Series record at the European Tour's flagship event.
"Being out there after 36 holes, 36 to go, it's important to have a chance, especially on a course that I've never seen before and a tournament this important," he said.
"It is the Rolex Series and it is the PGA here in Europe, it's the flagship event, so it's a tournament we all want to win. There's a lot of history here and a lot of legends on the walls, so it would be great to join that great list of players."
Willett replaced Rahm as champion at the season finale in November to claim his first Rolex Series win and first victory since his Masters Tournament triumph in 2016.
It was a long road back to the winner's circle for the 31-year-old but he is once again excelling against a world class field, despite not feeling at his peak yet.
"I'm probably not back to my best," he said. "Still working on the moves and there's still shots in there that I don't like.
"As a whole, the body is night and day to where it was and the movements are good. The ability to travel around the world and play golf now is back there and I'm just in a much better place with everything, really.
"It's good fun to be back here, back in contention with a few of these big tournaments and get them juices flowing and see how you can finish.
"This is our Tour's main tournament, our biggest tournament of the year, and it's always nice to come back. It's even nicer to come back playing quite well and being up there. Hopefully an exciting weekend to come."
Willett made a flying start with birdies on the first and third and then eagled the gettable par five fourth to take the lead.
Rahm had bogeyed the first and second but bounced back with two birdies and when he made it four in a row by hitting an excellent tee shot into the fifth and putting an approach to tap-in range on the sixth, the lead was shared.
Willett holed an 18 footer on the fifth to hit the front on his own and another birdie on the ninth saw him turn in 29 with a two shot lead.
He then holed a 12 footer on the 11th and made the most of the par five 12th but after missing the green at the 14th for his only bogey of the day, Rahm reeled him in.
The Spaniard had bogeyed the tenth but made a two putt birdie on the 12th and holed from the fringe on the 13th before his second at the last left him eight feet for a closing eagle.
Bezuidenhout was bogey free in his 67, making five birdies including a holed flop shot from the rough on the 15th that is a contender for shot of the week.
Rose also made five birdies but dropped a shot on the 16th, while Stenson recovered from a dropped shot on the fifth with birdies on the ninth, 11th, 12th and last.
American Billy Horschel carded a 65 to sit alongside 2009 champion Paul Casey at seven under, a shot clear of two more Americans in Tony Finau and Andrew Putnam, Norway's Viktor Hovland and Indian Shubhankar Sharma.
