British Open Champion Shane Lowry and England's Matthew Fitzpatrick shared the lead at the halfway stage of the PGA Championship after they scored matching 65s at Wentworth on Friday.
The two golfers set a testing clubhouse target of 12 under par after taking advantage of favourable early scoring conditions.
Overnight co-leader Tyrrell Hatton was able to get within one shot of the leading pair as the weather changed in the afternoon but they remained the men to catch heading into the weekend.
Lowry notched seven birdies in a spotless second round, while Fitzpatrick had been on course to break the tournament record for the lowest opening 36 holes after an eagle and seven birdies before a double bogey on his final hole.
England's world number 15 Hatton finished his round with three birdies in his final four holes to sign for a 67 and jump to 11 under.
Frenchman Victor Perez and Dane Joachim B. Hansen were two shots further back in a tie for fourth.
"I really only decided to come here on Sunday," said Lowry. "I felt like I might need a bit of a break so I did not expect much coming over here."
"It's good to get the juices flowing and I found a good rhythm and felt good," he added. "I've holed a few putts as well and that's a big part of the reason I am so far up the leaderboard."
Defending champion Danny Willett carded a second consecutive 71 to lie 10 shots off the lead on two under par while world number nine Patrick Reed is six shots off the lead.
Leading scores after the second round of the European Tour PGA Championship at Wentworth on Friday (GBR and IRL unless stated, par 72):
132 - Shane Lowry 67-65, Matthew Fitzpatrick 67-65
133 - Tyrrell Hatton 66-67
135 - Joachim Hansen (DEN) 68-67, Victor Perez (FRA) 69-66
136 - Adri Arnaus (ESP) 66-70, Grant Forrest 69-67
137 - Eddie Pepperell 67-70, Scott Hend (AUS) 68-69
138 - Gavin Green (MAS) 67-71, Ryan Fox 68-70 (NZL), Patrick Reed (USA) 70-68
139 - Ian Poulter 69-70, Julien Guerrier (FRA) 72-67, Matthias Schwab (AUT) 68-71, Wade Ormsby (AUS) 68-71, Masahiro Kawamura (JPN) 70-69, Andrew Johnston 68-71 Sam Valimaki (FIN) 72-67, David Horsey 70-69, Robert Rock 69-70, Marcus Kinhult (SWE) 72-67, Jordan Smith 72-67, Tommy Fleetwood 71-68
140 - Andy Sullivan 71-69, David Howell 72-68, Matt Wallace 69-71, Garrick Higgo (RSA) 69-71, Alexander Levy (FRA) 72-68