South African Thomas Aiken holds a one-shot lead heading into the weekend of the Open de Espana after a solid opening two rounds.
Returning from a seven-week break, Aiken backed up his opening 68 with another on Friday to enter the weekend in Barcelona at eight-under.
Spaniard Pablo Larrazabal is a shot back with four players - Scott Jamieson, Romain Wattel, Alvaro Velasco and Anthony Wall - tied for third.
Brett Rumford (even) and Daniel Gaunt (one over) were the only Australians to make the cut for the final two rounds but are well back in the field.
Aiken said he was using the tournament as a way to find his rhythm again and has been surprised by his performance.
"When I started (practicing) again I thought 'what the hell have you done?' because everything felt so strange," he said.
"I wasn't expecting much this week. I was using it to prepare for the rest of the season."
Both of Aiken's rounds were similar as he holed two bogeys, but made up for them with six birdies.
Scotland's Jamieson made a shocking start to his second round, bogeying three of the first six holes, before recovering to hit a 72 and sit tied for third.
"I was happy to claw it back. More wind made it a bit tricky, but if you hit it well there are plenty of opportunities for birdies," Jamieson said.
"I struggled with my pace on the greens all day."
Larrazabal continues to go about business, while countrymen Jose Maria Olazabal and Migue Angel Jimenez are at level par and one-under respectively.
Velasco, who moved into equal third, hit the best score of the day with a 66.
Scotland's Colin Montgomerie was at three-under before a poor finish to the round left him at level par for the tournament.
Steve Webster, who was joint second after the opening round, tumbled out with a 79 that included two triple bogeys.