Hideki Matsuyama maintained his lead from the opening round of the Olympic Games but now shares top spot with Xander Schauffele and Tommy Fleetwood at the halfway stage. (Medal Table | Schedule & Results | Full Coverage)
The three are all on 11 under after the first two rounds, with the Brit enjoying a brilliant day on the course as he jumped 11 places up the leaderboard.
He carded a seven-under 64 on Friday and only failed to take an outright lead after finding the sand and failing to get up and down.
Matsuyama similarly missed his chance, hitting the water on the final hole, but he did well to only make a double as he finished with a three-under 68.
Schauffele, who is playing to retain his gold medal, had set the pace by carding a 66, one more than yesterday.
Jon Rahm has also played his way into contention (nine under), while Belgium's Thomas Detry produced the best result of the day, with his round of eight-under 63 improving him to eight under and vaulting him up 36 places into joint fifth.
Meanwhile, world number one Scottie Scheffler is down in joint-10th (six under), with Rory McIlroy one stroke further down after carding a two-under 69.
His Ireland team-mate Shane Lowry finished on an even 71 for the second day running.
