Tom McKibbin and Padraig Harrington produced super second rounds to shoot up the leaderboard at the Ras Al Khaimah Championship in the United Arab Emirates.
McKibbin moved to seven under par and into a share of 27th place thanks to a second round four-under 68, following on from his opening 69 on Thursday.
The Holywood Golf Club man posted a level par front nine with one birdie cancelled out by a bogey, before enjoying an excellent back nine, posting four birdies, including a back-to-back finish to move inside the top 30.
McKibbin sits seven shots off leaders Manuel Elvira and Rasmus Hojgaard, who also enjoyed excellent second round, shooting 62 and 64 respectively to share the halfway lead.
Harrington had opened with a routine one under-par 71 at Al Hamra Golf Club, citing low energy levels on social media afterwards, but was in much better form on Friday morning posting a five-under 67 to move just outside the top 30, one shot behind McKibbin.
Starting on the 10th, Harrington opened with two pars before sinking his first birdie of the day at the 12th with a putt of just under 10 foot.
Despite flirting with the water on the right on his second shot, he would birdie the par-five 18th before a run of three birdies in four holes between the second and fifth holes left him in a good position ahead of the weekend's action.
