Australia's Min Woo Lee moved within three shots of the lead after a "gritty" second-round performance at the US PGA Tour's Baycurrent Classic in Japan on Friday.
Lee hit six birdies and two bogeys to card a 4-under-par 67 at Yokohama Country Club, taking him to 8-under overall.
Americans Keith Mitchell and Jacob Bridgeman topped the leaderboard heading into the weekend at 11-under par, two shots ahead of the chasing pack.
Lee said he was "hanging in there" in a field that also includes multiple major winners Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa and Jordan Spieth.
"It was pretty scrappy, but on the scoreable holes I did really well," said Lee, who is looking for his second win on the PGA Tour.
"I'm pretty happy with the way it went. It was gritty, which was good."
Defending champion Schauffele was on 3-under overall after finishing 2-under for the day.
Playing partner Morikawa was one shot further back on 2-under after a disastrous end to his round that saw him hit five bogeys on the last six holes.
Spieth, who is looking for his first win on the tour since April 2022, heads into the weekend on 4-under.
Japan's Hideki Matsuyama was on 3-under.
Lee headed to Japan after playing at the President's Cup last month at Medinah.
His Internationals team lost after a stunning rally by the United States, but Lee said he had "learned a lot" from the tournament.
"There were some times when I didn't feel like I contributed enough but also I felt like I did hit some really good shots and hole some good putts," he said.
"Every hole counts, you don't want to let your team down."