Seamus Power took off at the FedEx St Jude Classic, carding a stunning 65 to sit just three shots off the lead and give himself a real shot of making a serious Memphis impact.
The Waterford man started with an impressive one-under 65 on Thursday, but he produced some terrific golf to get moving, and is within sight of joint leader, former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel, American Chez Reavie and Colombian Sebastian Munoz, all on nine-under.
Reavie's round of 65, consisting of three birdies and an eagle, surged him up the leaderboard, while Schwartzel would have been sole leader had he not bogeyed his penultimate hole.
Stewart Cink is a shot behind the trio on eight under, with Ben Crane on seven under.
Graeme McDowell matched his opening 69 to sit on two-under heading for the weekend.
Rickie Fowler's US Open preparations suffered a blow as he missed the cut.
Fowler, the only member of the top 10 playing on the PGA Tour this week, said there was no better way to plan for a major than to be out on the course, but he will be restricted to just practice rounds now ahead of the second major of the year next week.
The 28-year-old, who shot 74 on the opening day, could only go round in even par meaning his four-over score was not enough to keep him around for the weekend.
