England's Robert Dinwiddie shot a 5-under 66 on Friday for a share of the lead with South Africa's Tjaart Van der Walt after the second round of the European Tour's Najeti Hotels Open.
Dinwiddie had a bogey-free round to join Van der Walt, the first-round leader, at 4-under 138 at Aa Saint-Omer Golf Club. Dinwiddie also led after the second round in 2010 en route to a second-place finish.
''I know the course very well and I have a lot of good feelings around here,'' Dinwiddie said. ''I did not think I would be leading after the afternoon but I knew I was in a good position no matter what.
''I didn't think I would be teeing it up after taking a bad step on Tuesday morning and damaging a bad disc in my back. I couldn't hit a ball on Wednesday, so I honestly thought I had no chance. But I just iced it and took a lot of anti-inflammatories and recovered. So it was great.''
Van der Walt had a 71.
''I didn't hit bad shots, but my chipping around the greens was not great and all my bogeys were from next to the green,'' Van der Walt said. ''I'm disappointed but I'm still in there and I was shocked walking up 18 to see I was still top.''
England's Chris Hanson and Simon Wakefield were a stroke back along with France's Victor Rio. Hanson and Wakefield shot 68, and Riu had a 71.
