Johannesburg - Wallie Coetsee reached a 24-point total to share the halfway lead with Zimbabwean Mark Williams at the Investec Royal Swazi Open on Thursday.
"This is my year, I feel good this week and the tournament really starts now that the cut has come," Coetsee said.
"Who knows what can happen this week?"
It is not the first time the 40-year-old golfer has been in contention at the Swazi Open, and in 2004 an unfortunate double bogey prevented him from taking victory.
"I gave this tournament away to Nic Henning a few years ago, I was leading and made a double on the 18th to come third, so this week it just feels right," Coetsee said.
Williams started his second round on the 10th hole and had to dig deep after carding bogeys at the 16th and 17th.
The 29-year-old hung on until he was ready to fire, and at the fourth he began a run of four consecutive birdies, which counted for eight points and earned him a share of the lead.
His six top-10 finishes attest to his mettle, and the Bulawayo local will have victory on his mind as he faces the next two rounds in Swaziland.
Jake Redman retained his hold on second place with a second round of eight points, and was joined by Jaco Ahlers and overnight leader Michael Hollick.
The trio finished on 23 points apiece, and kept the leaders well within their sights.
The leaderboard was jam-packed, with Ulrich van den Berg, PH McIntyre, James Kamte and Ruan de Smidt sharing sixth on 21 points, while Jean Hugo took up 10th place on 20 points.
Scores (RSA unless otherwise specified):
24 - Mark Williams 14 10, Wallie Coetsee 12 12
23 - Jake Redman 15 8, Jaco Ahlers 11 12, Michael Hollick 16 7
21 - Ulrich van den Berg 7 14, PH McIntyre 8 13, James Kamte 6 15, Ruan de Smidt 14 7
20 - Jean Hugo 10 10
19 - Brandon Detweiler (USA) 11 8, James Kingston 10 9
18 - Keenan Davidse 10 8, Justin Harding 4 14
17 - Nic Henning 8 9, Dean Burmester 8 9, Shaun Smith 10 7, Warren Abery 4 13, Bradford Vaughan 9 8, Ryan Cairns (ZIM) 13 4,Jake Roos 7 10
16 - Martin du Toit 10 6, Divan van den Heever 10 6, Jacques Blaauw 7 9, Teboho Sefatsa 6 10
15 - Darryn Lloyd 10 5, Brandon Pieters 8 7, Merrick Bremner 9 6, Andrew Curlewis 7 8
13 - JG Claassen 5 8, Lyle Rowe 5 8, Shaun Norris 1 12, Michiel Bothma 4 9, Anthony Michael 4 9, Allan Versfeld 6 7,Alex Haindl 9 4
12 - Titch Moore 8 4
11 - Christiaan Basson 8 3, Charl Coetzee 6 5, Andrew Georgiou 4 7, Doug McGuigan 10 1
10 - Chris Swanepoel -2 12, Hendrik Buhrmann -3 13, Des Terblanche 4 6
9 - Grant Muller 9 0, Vaughn Groenewald 9 0, Peter Karmis 3 6, Heinrich Bruiners 3 6
8 - John Bele 8 0, Attie Schwartzel -1 9
Missed the cut:-
7 - Neil Schietekat 2 5, Louis de Jager 5 2, Tyrone Ferreira 1 6, Colin Nel 13 -6, Bryce Easton 1 6, Ross Wellington 7 0,Derik Ferreira 2 5, Toto Thimba (Jnr) 1 6
6 - Ockie Strydom 1 5, Danie van Tonder -2 8
5 - Matthew Carvell 4 1, Andre Cruse 0 5, Johan de Beer 4 1
4 - Steven Ferreira 3 1
3 - Theunis Spangenberg 6 -3
2 - Graham van der Merwe 4 -2
1 - Tyrone Mordt 0 1, Kevin Stone -5 6
-1 - Jeff Inglis (ENG) -1 0, Lindani Ndwandwe -5 4, Desne van den Bergh -3 2
-3 - Desvonde Botes 4 -7