Spain's Rafael Cabrera-Bello managed something even Rory McIlroy had been unable to do as he surged into contention for the season-ending DP World Tour Championship.
McIlroy birdied four of the first five holes on the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates on his way to an opening 66 which gave him a share of the overnight lead with Shane Lowry on six under par.
The World Number One's only aberration in that brilliant return to action after a six-week lay-off was missing from six feet for birdie on the third, but Cabrera-Bello showed him how it was done on Friday.
The 30 year old picked up shots at each of the first five holes and added another on the eighth to reach the turn in 30, and although another birdie at the tenth was followed by two bogeys, an eagle on the 14th and birdie on the 17th completed a brilliant round of 64.
That set the clubhouse target on seven under par although it looked unlikely to stand up, with McIlroy and Justin Rose also seven under and 14 players within three shots of the lead.
"It's always nice to start with five birdies and it gave me a really good feeling on the greens," said Cabrera-Bello, who won his second European Tour title in Dubai in the Desert Classic in 2012.
"It's also a really dangerous thing because you then put a little pressure on yourself but I managed to handle that well today and I am really pleased with my round."
McIlroy had holed from four feet for a birdie on the first as Ryder Cup team-mate Rose continued his superb fightback from a terrible start on Thursday.
The former US Open Champion was four over par for his first six holes and still four over after ten, but played the remaining eight holes in five under and carried on where he left off on Friday with six birdies in 14 holes.
Rose is making something of a habit of such performances, dropping four shots in his first four holes of the BMW Masters at the start of the month before battling back to eventually finish just one shot outside the three-man play-off won by Germany's Marcel Siem.
