Mikko Korhonen extended his lead to three shots as the first time penalty was handed out on day three of the Shot Clock Masters.
Players are penalised a stroke if they do not play their shot in the allotted time this week at Diamond Country Club and it was Austrian Clemens Prader who was the first man to fall foul.
The home favourite took four seconds over his allotted 50 to take a putt on the sixth and turned a par into a bogey in a 76 that left him six over.
Korhonen was the only player to stay bogey-free for the first two rounds, the first time he has achieved that feat since this event in 2015.
The Finn is searching for a first European Tour win and after entering the day with a one-shot advantage, two birdies in his first three holes moved him to 11 under and away from the pack.
Home favourite Matthias Schwab, 2016 champion Wu Ashun, Dane Jeppe Pape Huldahl and England's Steve Webster were all eight under.
Korhonen extended his lead to two with a birdie on the par five first thanks to an approach to four feet.
The group in second was swelling, however, thanks to a Huldahl birdie on the second and a Schwab gain on the third courtesy of a long putt from the fringe.
It's just how it is. It's the name of the game and I accept it - Clemens Prader
Wu also made a gain on the third but he was soon three back as a ten-footer from Korhonen moved him to 11 under.
Webster began his round with three pars and sat a shot ahead of Swedish pair Peter Hanson and Oscar Lengden, Australian Adam Bland, Norway's Eirik Tage Johansen and South African Justin Walters.
Prader was sat at the bottom of the leaderboard but was philosophical after claiming his place in European Tour history.
“I just didn't hear him, I didn't hear 'time',” he said. “I was just in my routine and it must have been called sometime when I was walking to my ball, which is fine, I just didn't hear it. It was just four seconds over, which is a little unfortunate.
“I was a little angry, I hope you didn't have any cameras on me. It got me so heated that I actually holed a bunker shot on the next hole, which was okay, it kind of reversed it.
“It was not a problem, I just didn't hear. My caddie told me, he wasn't watching, he didn't hear the time as well but the other guys heard it. It's just an unfortunate situation. It was early, I was still going with a decent round, it's just how it is. It's the name of the game and I accept it.
“You just have to deal with it, I just didn't hear it. In the other shots I was probably about 20 seconds or something.”
