Min Woo Lee has been left astonished by the "amazing" quality of his short game at Valderrama as he moved into the joint half-way lead at the Andalucia Masters.
The Australian tyro demonstrated both sheer brilliance with his shot-making and a tenacious quality in extricating himself from trouble en route to a most entertaining four-under 67 second round on Friday.
It left him nine-under at halfway, alongside two Spaniards, Adrian Otaegui (66) and Angel Hidalgo, who tamed one of Europe's most demanding courses with a phenomenal eight-birdie, bogey-free 63.
Lee, who's found a rich vein of form in Spain over the past fortnight including his third-placed finish at the country's national Open in Madrid on Sunday, ended up all smiles on a day when he admitted he had to grind as well as glitter on the Sotogrande course.
The highlight, he reckoned, was his arrowed three-iron approach from 258 yards on the par-five fourth which ended up as a tap-in eagle chance from two-and-a-half feet.
Close behind came Lee's chip-in birdie from the green-side rough on the 10th. "I like to say to my caddie and friends I'll have one chip-in per round - and that was it," he laughed.
At the final hole, he managed to somehow get up and down, even though his ball was bunkered in a "plugged egg lie", to maintain his share of the lead in his quest for a third European Tour title.
"It was a bit of a grind at the end, I had to make a lot of up and downs, and it wasn't easy as the wind switched around, but I played really good," said Lee.
"My wedge game, short game has been amazing so, hopefully, if that's up, I can just keep going."
There were plenty of adventures en route to his 67. He ended up behind a tree at the second and then hit more branches with his next shot, but ended up holing a 14 footer to escape with just a bogey.
I'm feeling great ... I hit a couple of shots out of the trees, through the trees - yes, it was an amazing performance with my wedge," he smiled.
Nobody, though, could match Hidalgo, who delighted his home fans by shooting seven birdies in a nine-hole stretch around the turn before going on to nearly chip in at the final hole, which would have seen him equal Bernhard Langer's 28-year-old course record.
"63 is a dream score and I'm so happy," said Hidalgo, who, like Lee, is a rising star at just 24.
The three leaders have a three-shot lead over their nearest pursuer, Sweden's Joakim Lagergren, with Scotland's Robert MacIntyre and Spain's Sebastian Garcia Rodriguez another stroke back on five under.
