Sweden's Fredrik Jacobson and resurgent former Masters and Open champion Sandy Lyle were lying first and second at the halfway stage of the Scottish Open here on Friday.
The players ranked 107th and 119th on the European tour tore up the form book to lead the field in this event which is a stepping stone to the British Open at Muirfield next week.
Jacobson leads by four shots but the real surprise was the form of Lyle, who has not been in the final group of a tournament in Europe since the 1992 Volvo Masters - the last time he won anywhere in the world.
The 44-year-old Scot, who admits the sport which made him rich and famous nearly drove him to despair, took his lofty position on the day other big names like Nick Faldo, Lee Westwood, Jose Maria Olazabal and Bernhard Langer all failed to qualify for the final two rounds.
Colin Montgomerie and Darren Clarke meanwhile waited seven hours before discovering they were still alive in the tournament.
"I definitely feel the bad golf is behind me," said Lyle after shooting 68 which included holing a 135-yard nine-iron for an eagle two at the 12th. "I don't want to see it again. I want to go and bury it in the loch.
"The game of golf was eating me up and it tests your ability to keep going. It's not been fun, I can tell you. I had years and years of sheer grind, but I always felt there was light at the end of the tunnel."
The 27-year-old Jacobson arrived having missed his last four halfway cuts but superb rounds of 66 and 65 pulled him clear of the field. Unless he self-destructs Jacobson should now earn one of the 15 spots for Muirfield and finally a title.
He lost by one to Peter Mitchell in Madeira in 1997, to Westwood in a play-off in Belgium the following season, Westwood again by three in the 2000 European Grand Prix, compatriot Patrik Sjoland by two at the Irish Open a week later and then Bernhard Langer by one at last year's German Masters.
Jacobson had five successive birdies from the fifth to turn in 31 and after a bogey at the 12th finished with two more in the last four holes.
First round leader Justin Rose remained six under with a 71 - he bogeyed two of the last three holes - and was lying joint third with fellow Englishman Miles Tunnicliff and two more Swedes, Carl Pettersson and Richard Johnson, as the second round neared its conclusion.
Montgomerie and Clarke had finished on one over by lunchtime, but their survival right on the limit was not determined until 8 p.m.
Ernie Els would have been alongside them but for a closing birdie - Montgomerie also made three on the 430-yard hole - but he shared the Scot's gloom about the state of his game. Rain late in the day hampered the progress of late starters.
Michael Hoey was the leading Irishman on two-under following today’s 71, Paul McGinley was next on level par while Ronan Rafferty missed by one shot after two consecutive 72’s.