Nick Faldo suffered a dreaded shank as his hopes of a first win in Europe since 1994 were dealt a potentially fatal blow in the Lancome Trophy.
Faldo was one off the lead after an opening 65 but slumped to a second round 74 at St Nom La Breteche to finish nine shots off the pace set by Holland's Maarten Lafeber.
Faldo appeared to be on track when he fired an opening 65 and birdied the 12th, his third hole, today to remain in second place, but from then on it was all downhill for the former world number one.
A bogey on the 14th was followed by three more in a row from the 16th, and after a birdie on the sixth steadied the ship, his round ended in ignominious fashion familiar to every club hacker on the ninth.
His drive on the 374-yard par four split the fairway, but his second was shanked 40 yards wide of the green. From there his approach found the greenside bunker and he did well to rescue a bogey with the pin tucked close to the edge of the trap.
Lafeber holed a bunker shot on the 18th, his ninth hole, for his first birdie of the day and carded five more coming home to compile a second consecutive 65.
That gave the 27-year-old Dutchman a two shot lead over first round leader Alex Cejka and put him in pole position to gain his first tour victory.
"You can't really force it," said Lafeber, who has remodelled his swing under the guidance of Scottish coach Gregor Jamieson, a former disciple of David Leadbetter.
Cejka, Miguel Angel Martin and David Howell were the first group to play the 438-yard par four after starting at the 10th, and when they tried to hit their approach shots discovered there was no flag in the hole.
One was quickly dispatched and the mishap did not prevent Cejka from making his par, and after 12 more in a row he birdied the final two holes.
Paul McGinley is also handily placed after a round of 69 moved the Ryder Cup hero to six-under and poised to make a move over the weekend.
Of the other Irish in the field, fledging professional Graeme McDowell will be slightly downbeat after his 69 moved him to two under for the tournament.
The Co Antrim golfer had looked to be putting a round together to trouble the leaders but four bogeys in his final six holes dropped McDowell back into the pack and out of contention at this stage.
Elsewbere, Des Smyth will have been delighted with his 68, a fine score that moved the European Tour veteran to four under.