George Coetzee and Bernd Wiesberger traded blows but had to make do with a share of the clubhouse lead midway through the second round of the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.
Coetzee, who has one European Tour title to his name, and Wiesberger, twice a winner, sat on nine under par after enjoying favourable conditions in Doha, which was much less windy than it often is.
With both starting on the tenth, Wiesberger birdied five of his first seven holes, including four straight gains from the 13th.
The Austrian almost eagled the first hole, his tenth, with a chip from just off the green but had to settle for a birdie.
His only drop of the day came at the par four seventh, but he made amends by ending with a birdie four for an impressive 66, a round of six under.
Coetzee likewise fared better on his outward nine, making four gains, and also had just one blemish on his card, his second bogey five at the fifth hole this week in a five under par round.
The South African, who holed long putts for birdie at the second and eighth holes while swapping the lead with Weisberger several times, said: “I'm playing well. My swing is coming along slightly and I'm putting pretty nicely. I've just got to wait for my birdies and not force it and kind of play the golf course like I know it.”
Wiesberger, who shared sixth place at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship last week, said: “I feel comfortable. I haven't really expected it going into those two weeks, especially because I played quite poorly last year.
“It gives me great confidence; if I keep on doing what I'm doing, I think I've worked on the right things the last couple of weeks and it shows.”
Hot on Coetzee's and Wiesberger's heels are rookie Byeong-hun An and Emiliano Grillo, who were eight under after going round in three under.
Darren Fichardt was alone on seven under, a shot ahead of overnight leader Oliver Fisher who was one over for this round.
Fisher was in a large group featuring defending champion Sergio Garcia, who made a birdie at the fourth in a round of three under.
Ernie Els played one of the shots of the morning, nearly chipping in from the edge of the green at his last hole but could not save par to sit five under.
