Shane Lowry is five shots off the lead after round two at the Valderama Masters with Holland's Joost Luiten heading the field on six under par.
The Offaly man mixed six birdies with three bogies and a double bogey - which he finished on - to end the day one under par in Andalucia.
Luiten hit a stunning albatross to claim a one-shot lead after two rounds. The Dutchman holed his second shot at the par-five 11th to wow the galleries and take a giant step towards the leaderboard summit, where he sits on six under par.
That moment turned the 31-year-old's round on its head, and wiped out three of the four bogeys he made en route to a one-under 70.
Luiten had finished second at last year's Open de Espana at the same venue and reached the halfway stage a stroke ahead of tournament host Sergio Garcia, Englishman Robert Rock and Scott Jamieson of Scotland.
Conditions made scoring tougher than on day one, with Rock also one under for the day and Garcia shooting a level-par 71. Jamieson's 68, containing five birdies and two bogeys, was therefore good enough to catapult him into the reckoning.
Welshman Jamie Donaldson went one better, signing for a best-of-day four under, though he was still four off the lead after a slow start on Thursday.
Padraig Harrington carded a round of two over par but made the cut by two shots on three over.
Gary Hurley shot the same score but failed to make the cut after a first-round of 80.
