A blistering round of 65 from Shane Lowry kept alive his faint hopes of a Ryder Cup wildcard inclusion, while Paul Dunne is the best of the Irish after the second round the Made of Denmark Tournament.
The Offaly native admitted that it would take a win, or at the very least, a high placing to get the nod from, European captain Darren Clarke for one of the three picks for next month's Hazeltine showdown.
An opening round of 75 seemed to all but confirm his exclusion, but he went 10 shots better today with a round that included seven birdies and just one dropped shot at the par-4 15th.
Only England’s Oliver Wilson matched the round of the day and Lowry is now at two-under.
Lowry trails Welshman Bradley Dredge, who moved three strokes clear to move to -13 as he goes in search of a first win on the European Tour in 10 years.
Paul Dunne is best placed of the Irish in action after replicating his opening round of 68 in difficult conditions in Farso.
The 23-year-old picked up two birdies on the front nine and also at the 17 to match his impressive start yesterday.
Peter Lawrie shot a round of 70 and at -1, is one shot within the projected cut.
Swede Joakim Lagergren (70) lies in second spot, with Belgium's Thomas Pieters (71) and South African Richard Sterne (67) a further shot back at nine-under.
Dredge, a double winner on the European Tour who has not tasted victory since the 2006 European Masters, reeled off five birdies on his front nine to surge to the top of the leaderboard.
Though he ran up his only bogey of the day at the par-four 13th, the 43-year-old rebounded with a birdie at the 14th before parring his last four holes to remain three strokes clear.
"You come to courses sometimes and it just seems to suit your eye," said Dredge who finished second at this tournament in 2014 and sixth last year.
"I'm just glad that I'm here and performing," he told reporters. "You try not to think too much about the score but I thought under 70 was going to be a good score out there today.
"It really was blowing, approach shots were tough, putting was very difficult to start with ... obviously I'm delighted with my score. I'm in good position for the weekend."
