South Africa’s Brandon Stone is a shot behind leader Tyrrell Hatton at the halfway stage of the Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo.
Afternoon starter Stone shot the lowest round of the day, with his 64 containing nine birdies – including seven in eight holes around the turn – and a single bogey.
Hatton added a second-round 65 to his opening 69, making the most of ideal morning conditions on Friday to set the clubhouse target at 10 under par.
And with none of the afternoon starters able to catch him at the summit, he takes a slender lead into the weekend.
Jorge Campillo and Jeong weon Ko also sit one shot off the lead with Stone on nine under.
Ko’s fellow Frenchman Tom Vaillant and Dane Niklas Nørgaard were another shot behind that trio, in a tie for fifth.
South Africa’s Thriston Lawrence is seventh on seven under after carding 69.
Home favourite Hatton is a newcomer to this week’s host course at The Belfry but he looked extremely comfortable on day two as he carded eight birdies and a single bogey.
Starting from the 10th tee, the Ryder Cup star saved par from seven feet on the 11th before picking up his first birdie of the day at the short 12th.
Another key par save came at the 13th – this time from eight feet – before Hatton holed from 16 feet on the 14th for a birdie.
Hatton’s putter remained hot until the turn as he made back-to-back birdies at the 16th and 17th before pulling off another par save on the 18th.
Following a lovely chip at the par-five 3rd, Hatton made another birdie there before taking his tally to six on the 5th hole.
Despite missing the green at the short 7th, Hatton chipped in from the semi-rough to move three clear at the top of the leaderboard.
A bogey on the 8th cut his advantage to a single shot but he bounced straight back with a closing birdie at the 9th to lead by one at the midway point of the tournament.
“It was nice to see some putts go in today, to be honest,” he said. “I definitely hit the ball better yesterday but the big difference was I holed a few putts, which was nice. I’ll try and take that momentum into the weekend now.
“It’s the first time I’ve played [the course] this week. I’d walked around it – I think I was maybe 17 at the time – with the England junior squad, we were following some of the guys.
“So yeah, obviously nice to play it. But there’s some pretty tricky tee shots. Six, 8 and 18, I would say are the hardest ones. So if you can get a good one away there, you’re pretty happy with that.”
Hatton is looking forward to playing in front of his home crowds again over the weekend.
“I think any time we get to play in England, fans always come out and we have good support.
“I’m definitely enjoying that. As I said earlier, I’m looking forward to the weekend. I think the crowds will be pretty special.”
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– Edited report from DP World Tour website
Photo: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images
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