Australian Richard Green failed to emulate his opening-round 66 to drop down the leaderboard into a tie for 20th place as Luke Donald took over top spot from fellow Englishman Danny Willett in the European Tour's showpiece BMW PGA Championship.
Green was outright second after the first round but could only manage a disappointing four-over 75 on Friday to be one-under for the tournament.
Fellow Aussie Scott Strange did not fare much better, a three-over 74 seeing him at one-over overall and a share of 40th place.
Andrew Dodt and New Zealanders Mark Brown and Danny Lee scraped through to the weekend at three-over.
Donald, who is called 'Plod' by his brother, hit a second successive 68 to take over the halfway lead.
As well as steering clear of trouble on the much harder West Course the 32-year-old has not incurred the wrath of Ernie Els off it.
The South African, still in the hunt himself three behind on three-under-par, is seething with some star players 'running to the media' with critical comments about what he and course owner Richard Caring have done to the lay-out.
Caring has taken the blame for the green at the par five 18th - "Ernie was right, I was wrong," he said before promising to make any further changes deemed necessary - but Els has felt in the firing line.
World No.3 Lee Westwood aired various suggestions for the controversial finish and defending champion Paul Casey even discussed possible 'protection orders' on certain courses before the start.
"I would love for people to come to me personally rather than go to newspapers and tell their side of the story," said Els. "Nobody knows exactly what's gone on here and I'd like to explain to players before they go to the media."
"Today I felt very disappointed by everything that's been said and kind of hurt a little bit. But, you know, you've got to be man enough and stand up and take it on the chin."
"This golf course is something for the future. Richard Caring didn't want 18-under winning and I think he succeeded in that."
"Hopefully, if he's willing to spend more money (over 6million pounds has gone in already), we can rectify the things that I'm not happy with."
Donald has so far had only one bogey in 36 holes - and his five on the 12th would have been a par a year ago.
"I think the reason why it suits me is because you kind of have to plot your way around a little bit more now," he said.
Without a win in Europe for six years, this is the first of a three-week break from the US Tour to try to boost his prospects of regaining his Ryder Cup spot after wrist surgery kept him out last time.
Captain Colin Montgomerie, himself level-par in the championship he has won three times, knows what an asset Donald could be in October.
"I'm delighted he's made an effort to come over and to come to Wales (Celtic Manor also hosts the Welsh Open in a fortnight's time)," he said. "I think that's a big tick in his column."
Especially when so many big names will not be there.
With tournament debutant Willett adding only a one-over 72 to his opening 65, Donald leads by one from not only the 22-year-old from Sheffield, but also last year's runner-up Ross Fisher