Lee sank a glorious curling 59 foot birdie putt on the 13th green to adorn what otherwise was a solid but largely unspectacular three-under round of 68 by his pyrotechnic standards on Friday (Saturday AEST).
Yet a round which had started with him finding the rough stuff twice on the way to an opening bogey ended with him securing four birdies, including a couple of routine ones on par fives, to stay in joint-second on eight under, within two shots of England's halfway leader Marcus Armitage.
There was still the prospect of a double Australian charge at Europe's oldest national Open championship outside Britain as Elvis Smylie also moved into the top-10 at the Golf de Saint-Nom-La-Breteche course, just five off the lead in joint-ninth place after his own 68.
Lee, who's enjoying his best spell since winning his maiden PGA tour event at the Houston Open in March, can take encouragement from how he's still hot on the heels of leader Armitage despite never really finding his range with his approach shots.
Overnight leader Armitage, who'd shot 64 on the opening day, was more uneven on Friday with a 68 that featured five birdies and two bogeys.
"It was a little bit of a battle today. All in all, kept my nose in front, and hopefully we can keep going over the weekend," shrugged the world No.241 Armitage.
"Everyone's great on the good days, it's the bad days like that, if you can still shoot a score and keep yourself in it, then you just wait for the good days over the weekend."
Making a bigger move was Denmark's Jeff Winther, one of the early starters who recorded a day's-best eight-under 63 to move alongside Lee into second spot. His spectacular round featured nine birdies and a bogey six.
Five players were a couple of shots further back on six under - Sweden's Jens Dantorp (69) and Mikael Lindberg (67), Italy's Gregorio De Leo (68) and the French pair of Jeong-Weon Ko (68) and Adrien Saddier (66).
Five-time major champion Brooks Koepka went on a charge with an eagle and three birdies but stuttered over the last three holes and had to settle for a 68 and a total of five under.
He's alongside Australian PGA champ Smylie, who had a madly uneven round, featuring seven birdies and four bogeys. The left-hander is currently the leading Australian in the European tour's Race to Dubai order of merit, in 26th place.
David Micheluzzi, with a 69 that left him at two under, and Daniel Gale, who was on one under after a 72, also both made the weekend but Danny List missed the cut after a second-round 74.
