A final-hole birdie from former champion Rafa Cabrera-Bello gives the Spaniard a one-shot lead heading into the weekend at the Dubai Desert Classic, where defending champion Rory McIlroy sits six strokes off the pace.
The Spaniard, whose last victory came in this event in 2012, holed his 10-foot putt at the 18th to close a second successive 67 and break clear of the group including three-time Dubai champion Ernie Els, South Africa's Trevor Fisher Jr and last year's Race to Dubai runner-up Danny Willett.
Cabrera-Bello birdied two of his opening three holes to continue his impressive start to 2016 and recovered from a blemish at the sixth to pick up strokes at the seventh and ninth, reaching the turn in 32.
The world No 85, who was second in last week's Qatar Masters, moved in to a four-way tie for the lead by sinking a birdie putt at the 15th before taking the outright advantage at the par-five last.
"On Thursday I really felt I played great tee to green," Cabrera-Bello said. "And (Friday) was the exact opposite. I didn't play as good, as sharp.
"It was windy and I didn't quite find my tempo but the putting was extremely hot. I rolled one of the best putting rounds of my life, so that made up for everything else."
Els moved into contention for a record fourth Dubai title by carding a bogey-free 67, with Willett and Fisher Jr also not dropping a shot during a day of low scoring.
A flawless round-of-the-week 64 from Thorbjorn Olesen lifted the Dane alongside Andy Sullivan, Chris Wood and Joost Luiten on eight under, with Henrik Stenson a further stroke back after draining a long-range birdie at the last.
"It was a tough day out there," Stenson said. "You have to control your shots and I managed to do that quite well but there was still a couple occasions where I didn't.
"I tried hard to make pars and happy with the score. It didn't make it feel any worse, draining a 50-footer on the last."
McIlroy birdied his final three holes to salvage his round and finish level-par, as Louis Oosthuizen, the other player in the marquee group, missed the cut after carding two double-bogeys in a two-over 72.
Watch the Dubai Desert Classic throughout the week live on Sky Sports 4 - your home of golf. Third round coverage gets underway on Saturday from 9am.