Northern Ireland's Michael Hoey and Rory McIlroy are five shots off the lead at the 3 Irish Open after impressive rounds at Killarney.
Hoey shot a 69, which included five birdies to finish the day on seven under par for the tournament.
Padraig Harrington returned an eventful 67 to join, amongst others, Rory McIlroy on seven under.
In a bush off the tee at the 17th the three-time major champion, without a win for nearly two years, hacked out, went over the green and chipped in for par before sinking a 20-footer on the last for his fifth birdie.
After a closing 20-footer for birdie 2007 winner Harrington, without a Tour title for almost two years, said: "I putted like I did in my amateur days.
"It's a lot easier to play the game when you struggle a little bit and recover.
"You walk to the next tee feeling really good about yourself whereas the guy who hits two nice shots in and two-putts feels pretty bad."
McIlroy, round in 68, has had 14 birdies already, but also seven bogeys.
"I'll have to really try and limit those for the weekend," said the 21-year-old world number eight. "I feel as I'm playing well enough to challenge."
Darren Clarke's 70 put him six under, the same mark as his fellow Ryder Cup vice-captain Paul McGinley, but their stablemate Ross McGowan's bad run continued.
In the ninth and last automatic cup place with a month of the race to go, McGowan missed a fourth successive cut when a 75 dropped him to six over.
As for birthday boys Graeme McDowell and Justin Rose, they both mounted comebacks to finish on level par, which appeared virtually certain to make the cut with nothing to spare.
On the day he turned 30, Rose improved six shots on his opening 74, while McDowell, exactly a year older, holed from nearly 18 feet on the last for a 72.
Current leader Ross Fisher missed a golden chance to score the European Tour's first-ever 59.
After six successive birdies in a front nine 29 and then four more in a row from the 11th the 29-year-old needed a further two over the closing stretch - which included a reachable par five.
But Fisher missed from six feet at the 15th, could only par the 519-yard next and closed with two more pars for a 10-under-par 61.
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