Paul Casey, told on Wednesday that the world number three spot was there for him to grab this week, is bang on course for it halfway through the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.
Three years after he won Ј1million on the course in the World Match Play, Casey moved from two behind to two in front with a second-round 67 at the European Tour's flagship event.
The 31-year-old had no hesitation nominating his shot of the day - a 163-yard nine-iron that dived into the hole for a two at the difficult 13th.
Not that it was Casey's only eagle. He hit a seven-iron to seven feet at the long fourth and had the chance of another when he was almost as close on the 12th, only to miss the putt.
That was one of four birdies, but a disappointing six-five finish on the two par fives limited him to eight under par.
And he ended up with only 13 usable clubs, bending his four-iron when he struck a tree on the 17th.
"I was worried that the club might snap and injure somebody in the crowd," he said. "It's an old shaft and it might be difficult to get it replaced - and I wanted to hit it at the last.
"I would have taken a two-shot lead at the start of the day, but there were still a few too many mistakes, which was a bit frustrating.
"I used to struggle to figure out a way round here and stood on some tees pretty scared, but the changes (made by playing partner Ernie Els) gave me more options and I've built over the years a liking for the course."
First prize this time is just under Ј670,000 and that would take him well clear in the circuit's new Race To Dubai, but it is the possibility of a third win this year and a leap from seventh to third in the rankings - behind only Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson - that sends him into the weekend licking his lips.
Joint second are holder Miguel Angel Jimenez, England's David Horsey and Anthony Wall, Scotsman Marc Warren and also Dane Soren Kjeldsen.
Jimenez's dream for the last 36 holes is that he will become only the third player in the event's history - after Nick Faldo and Colin Montgomerie - to make a successful defence of the trophy.
The 45-year-old's hopes were given a massive boost by a closing 18-foot eagle putt after he had driven into the fairway bunker for the second day running.
"I think this course suits me because you need to control the ball," said the Malaga golfer. "It's always a benefit being a long hitter, but it does not make much difference here because you have to place the ball."
Jimenez has had more wins - eight - since his 40th birthday than before and he commented: "I feel the people kicking and trying to put me away, but I am still solid like a bull.
"I still enjoy myself with this new era and I love the competition. I still feel these butterflies in my stomach - it's what I do in my life and what I want to keep doing."
First-day leaders Horsey and Wall both added 71s to their opening rounds of 67 to be alongside Jimenez and they were joined by Warren when he birdied four of the last seven for a best-of-the-day 66 and Kjeldsen after he shot 69.
Former Open champion Ben Curtis and South African Thomas Aiken are in joint seventh on five under.
Welshman Stephen Dodd, a World Cup winner like Warren, moved alongside Aiken and Curtis by also grabbing four late birdies.
Collated second round scores & totals
(Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72):
136 Paul Casey 69 67
138 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 69 69, Anthony Wall 67 71, Marc Warren 72 66, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 68 70, David Horsey 67 71
139 Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 72 67, Stephen Dodd 71 68, Ben Curtis (USA) 69 70
140 Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 68 72, Alexander Noren (Swe) 69 71, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 73 67, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 69 71
141 Anton Haig (Rsa) 72 69, Ross Fisher 68 73, Jamie Donaldson 70 71, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 72 69, Thomas Levet (Fra) 70 71
142 Anders Hansen (Den) 72 70, Colin Montgomerie 69 73, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 72 70, Lee Slattery 70 72, Rory McIlroy 72 70, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 68 74, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 70 72, Mark Foster 72 70
143 Soren Hansen (Den) 73 70, Scott Drummond 69 74, Simon Dyson 74 69, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 69 74, Andres Romero (Arg) 71 72, Paul Lawrie 72 71, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 73 70, Miles Tunnicliff 73 70
144 Nick Dougherty 73 71, Simon Wakefield 75 69, John Daly (USA) 73 71, Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa) 74 70, Brett Rumford (Aus) 71 73, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 71 73, Markus Brier (Aut) 70 74, Sam Little 71 73, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa) 67 77, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 71 73
145 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 77 68, Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 71 74, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 74 71, Benn Barham 72 73, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 71 74, Anthony Kang (USA) 69 76, Peter Hanson (Swe) 71 74, Robert Rock 71 74, Alessandro Tadini (Ita) 74 71, Alastair Forsyth 70 75, Pablo Martin (Spa) 72 73, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 73 72, David Howell 76 69, Darren Clarke 74 71, Seve Benson 73 72, Paul Broadhurst 73 72, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 70 75, Tano Goya (Arg) 74 71
146 Robert Dinwiddie 73 73, Johan Edfors (Swe) 74 72, Ernie Els (Rsa) 73 73, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 73 73, Graeme McDowell 75 71, Francois Delamontagne (Fra) 73 73, Paul Waring 75 71, Marcel Siem (Ger) 71 75, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 70 76, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 70 76, Phillip Archer 72 74, Richard Green (Aus) 72 74, Luke Donald 74 72, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 74 72, Barry Lane 68 78, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 73 73
Missed cut:
147 Hennie Otto (Rsa) 73 74, Richie Ramsay 76 71, Scott Strange (Aus) 72 75, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 69 78, Brett A Taylor 76 71, Peter Lawrie 70 77, John Bickerton 73 74, Simon Khan 74 73, Taco Remkes (Ned) 76 71, Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 76 71, Ross McGowan 76 71, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 73 74
148 Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 73 75, Zane Scotland 74 74, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 71 77, Gareth Maybin 75 73, Rafael Echenique (Arg) 75 73, George Ryall 76 72, David Dixon 77 71, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 71 77, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 78 70
149 Steve Webster 75 74, Jason McCreadie 75 74, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 74 75, Mark Brown (Nzl) 78 71, David Frost (Rsa) 74 75, Oliver Fisher 77 72, Andrew McLardy (Rsa) 74 75, Gary Lockerbie 70 79, Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 74 75, Richard Finch 77 72
150 Christian Cevaer (Fra) 77 73, Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 73 77, Gary Orr 76 74, Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 75 75, James Ablett 75 75, Phillip Price 73 77, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 76 74, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 79 71, Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 76 74, Stephen Gallacher 77 73, Michael Jonzon (Swe) 74 76, Bradley Dredge 79 71
151 Mikael Lundberg (Swe) 73 78, James Kingston (Rsa) 73 78, Oliver Wilson 76 75, Per-Ulrik Johansson (Swe) 76 75, Nick Ludwell 77 74, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind) 72 79, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 78 73
152 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 76 76, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 77 75
153 Paul Simpson 78 75, Paul McGinley 73 80, Christopher Doak 76 77
154 David Lynn 79 75, Kenneth Ferrie 75 79, Lee Westwood 77 77
156 Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 77 79, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 76 80
157 Alvaro Velasco (Spa) 79 78, Andrew Oldcorn 77 80, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 79 78
158 Gary Murphy 82 76, Guy Woodman 77 81, Simon Lilly 79 79, Gregory Havret (Fra) 76 82
160 Chapchai Nirat (Tha) 78 82
161 Michael Campbell (Nzl) 79 82, Graeme Storm 80 81
168 John Kelly (USA) 86 82
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