Nick Dougherty, who described himself yesterday as a "walking mattress", continued to prove he is no slouch in the Scandinavian Masters.
Dougherty slept for almost 18 hours on Wednesday evening as a side-effect of suffering from glandular fever, but woke up in time to card an opening 67 for a share of the lead in Malmo.
And after an unpopular early start this morning he was still at the head of affairs after carding a second-round 69 for an eight-under-par total of 136.
That gave him a three-shot cushion over fellow overnight leader David Gilford, who remained five under par through the turn after two birdies and two bogeys.
The final overnight leader, Scotland's Andrew Coltart, was among the later starters setting out to tackle the revamped 7,365-yard Barseback course, which will also host this year's Solheim Cup in September.
Defending champion Graeme McDowell will need to improve upon yesterday's performance if he is to hold onto his title. The Co Antrim golfer, who carded a one-over par 73 in the first round, resumes his challenge at lunchtime.
Despite finding himself well off the pace, McDowell currently leads the Irish challenge with Paul McGinley, Damien McGrane and Peter Lawrie all further down the leaderboard. Veteran Ronan Rafferty sits alongside McDowell at one-over.