American Stewart Cink carded a six-under-par 64 to take a one-shot lead after the second round of the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Connecticut.
Despite bogeys on the first two holes, Cink roared back to the top of the leaderboard, buoyed by a pair of eagles at the par-five sixth and 13th holes to move to 10-under 130 at the TPC River Highlands.
Defending champion Hunter Mahan shot a seven-under-par 63 to move within a shot of Cink, alongside Ken Duke and Lucas Glover.
England's three representatives all had disappointing days with Londoner Brian Davis, the joint overnight leader, slipping back into a share of 11th after a level-par 70.
Justin Rose also suffered a setback as he dropped from joint fifth to equal 54th after a two-over-par 72 - which included double-bogeys at the short eighth and par-five 13th - left him three under and seven shots behind Cink.
Kenny Ferrie missed the cut after rounds of 68 and 71 dropped him to one under.
Cink was delighted with his recovery.
‘It didn't start out very promising at all with those two bogeys.
'Those were ugly,’ Cink said. ‘But I was able to right the ship and salvage quite a bit and actually got on a pretty good roll and got very confident in the middle of the round and finished off strong, too.’
The 1997 champion of this event when it was known as the Greater Hartford Open, Cink wrapped five birdies around a bogey at the 10th hole to go with the two eagles.
On the sixth hole, Cink hit a driver from the fairway to 20 feet. Following a three-wood from the fairway at hole 13, he dropped a 50-foot bomb.
‘Even though I made bogeys on the first couple holes, I just kept on staying down and staying focused on just doing what you can do, and that's just stroking the putter through the ball and almost not even looking up to watch it,’ Cink said. ‘The balls were tracking nice, and some of them went in.
‘If you had told me I was going to be six-under at the end of the day, I would have told you you were from Mars.’
Cink, who recorded a pair of eagles in one round for the first time since the 2006 Players Championship, has enjoyed great success here, finishing in a tie for second place in 1998.
Mahan is attempting to join Phil Mickelson (2001, 2002) as the only repeat champions in the 55-year history of this event.
‘I hit it really well off the tee and into the green,’ Mahan said. ‘If you put the ball in play out here, you can make a lot of birdies.
'Felt pretty good about my game coming into this week.’
After an opening-round 68, Mahan carded a bogey-free round that featured seven birdies to join Ken Duke and Lucas Glover, who each signed for a 66, at 9-under 131.
‘I just feel comfortable here,’ Mahan said. ‘I make a lot of free swings and I can play golf and I don't have to worry about where the ball might end up.’
