Three time winner Martin Kaymer opened up a five shot lead after his second round at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.
Although he was not as prolific as he was on Thursday, when he picked up ten birdies, the German, who won this event in 2008, 2010 and 2011, was still impressive in producing a blemish-free five under par 67.
Starting on the back nine, the US Open Champion holed out superbly from the edge of the green on the 12th and then made another birdie at the next.
He saved par on the 16th despite finding a greenside bunker with his approach and then overcame an errant tee shot into the rough to take four on the par five 18th.
Another wayward approach at the start of the front nine left him in another bunker, but he magnificently chipped in to move to 12 under.
Another gain on the eighth, his penultimate hole, moved Kaymer to 13 under and equalled the 36 hole record he set at the tournament seven years ago.
The 30 year old said: “I didn't miss many fairways, which gives you the opportunity to go for a lot of flags.
“And to be honest I really believe the golf course plays two or three shots tougher in the morning than in the afternoon because once you miss the fairway, you're in that thick, wet grass and then it's almost impossible to get home in two on the par fours. So therefore, I was very happy to shoot five under today.
“I will give it my best to get to the 20s. I'll say it that way. Right now, I'm 13 under par, which is a great score after two rounds.”
Kaymer's nearest challengers were Alexander Levy, who is eight under despite failing to match his opening round 66, settling for a 70 with a trio of birdies and one dropped shot, and Richard Green.
The Australian, one of 12 players in the field this week to have played in every edition of this championship in its ten year history, displayed his vast Abu Dhabi experience by matching his opening round four under 68.
Frenchman Levy said: “Today was a good day. I made some good saves and I'm really happy. I had a good strategy on the golf course. I hit some drives but had bad luck with the rough, so I would just lay up and try to make par with a wedge and a putt. That was the key. I'm really happy with that.”
Rory McIlroy, through four holes, was one of five players locked on seven under after starting with consecutive birdies.
Englishman Tyrrell Hatton and Dane Morten Ørum Madsen are among the quintet, the former overcoming an eight on the 600-yard par five second with four birdies and the latter finishing birdie-eagle.
Madsen said: “I was actually hitting the ball a lot better, hitting more fairways and more greens, but couldn't really get the putts to go in. In the end, I finished birdie on 17 and eagle on 18, so that was a nice way to finish off the round. I kept my patience well.”
Robert Karlsson was hot on the heels of Kaymer early on following four birdies on the back nine, until he arrived at the third.
The Swede dropped a shot and, despite a gain on the eighth, he triple bogeyed the par four ninth to slip back to six under.
Miguel Angel Jiménez, who recorded a hole-in-one on Thursday, was five under but his fellow Spaniard Pablo Larrazábal, the defending champion, is likely to miss the cut after a level par 72 left him only one under.
