India's compiled a five-under 66 that put him in the mix at the halfway stage of the Mayakoba Golf Classic here.
Lahiri is now 11-under and tied third as Matt Kuchar extended his one-shot lead to two after 36 holes. Kuchar had a second successive 64 and is now 14-under, while Cameron Champ, who won recently and is going for his second win three weeks added a brilliant nine-under 62 to his first round of 68 and is now 12-under 130.
Lahiri, with six others -- Danny Lee, Kim Whee, Dominic Bozzelli, Patton Kizzire and Brian Gay -- are tied at 11-under in third place.
Lahiri had birdies on second and fifth before he dropped a shot on Par-5 seventh but a birdie on eighth meant he turned in two-under. A bogey on 10th saw him fall to one-under, before he birdied 11th, 13th, 15th and 17th holes without dropping any more for a 66.
Kuchar escaped his only big mishap on Friday with a 35-foot bogey putt on the 12th hole but he had eight birdies for a 7-under 64 that gave him a two-shot lead over PGA TOUR rookie Cameron Champ going into the weekend.
Kuchar is trying to end more than four years without a PGA TOUR victory.
Kuchar had five straight birdies on the front nine and that gave him the momentum he needed.
Champ winner at the Sanderson Farms Championship in Mississippi, was in full control as he missed only two fairways for the second straight day.
The cut was at 4-under 138 and missing it was Jordan Spieth. The three-time major champion missed the cut in his final event of the year after a 69. Spieth managed only eight birdies in good scoring conditions and will have the weekend off for the seventh time this year. He is due to get married over Thanksgiving weekend.
There are seven players at 11-under 131 including defending champion Kizzire, past Mayakoba champion Brian Gay and Lahiri, who has played in the last two Presidents Cups.
Eighteen players were within five shots of the lead. Rickie Fowler (68) and Tony Finau (65) were at 8-under 134, along with their Ryder Cup captain, Jim Furyk, who had a 65.
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