Offaly's Shane Lowry carded a flawless 65 to claim a one-shot lead after the second round of the ISPS Handa Wales Open at Celtic Manor.
Nicolas Colsaerts and Joost Luiten lie in second place on eight under, with former champion Thongchai Jaidee and Italy's Edoardo Molinari another shot back.
Of the other Irish involved; Simon Thornton is next best placed on two under after a 69, with Damien McGrane just making the cut on one over. Peter Lawrie, Michael Hoey, Gareth Maybin, Kevin Phelan and David Higgins failed to make the cut.
Lowry, who won the Irish Open as an amateur in 2009 and the Portugal Masters in 2012, told the European Tour website: “There is still a long way to go in the tournament but I'm really looking forward to the weekend.
“I didn't drive it that good yesterday but still shot a decent score. I drove it a lot better today, drove it a lot straighter and gave myself a lot of chances and rolled in a few putts, so it was nice.
“I felt like coming over that I could give it a go this week. I was around tenth going into the back nine on Sunday last week, and similar the week before in Switzerland.
"If I can get myself in a good position come the back nine this weekend, again, hopefully I can give it a go.”
Elsewhere, Jamie Donaldson warmed up for next week's Ryder Cup by shooting a second-round 67 to finish four shots behind Lowry.
Welshman Donaldson was three strokes ahead of his Ryder Cup team-mate Thomas Bjorn of Denmark and five clear of England's Lee Westwood, who shot a 69 after a disappointing opening 73 to make the cut.
"I needed a couple more rounds," Westwood said.
"I was not particularly competitive yesterday, it was pretty scratchy, but today was more solid. A few iffy shots but it was nice to finish with two birdies in the last four holes to ensure being here for the weekend and two more competitive rounds."
Scotland's Stephen Gallacher missed out on the weekend, however, as a solid 70 failed to repair the damage of a dismal first-round 78 and he will have an extra two days practice before making his Ryder Cup debut at Gleneagles.
