Andy Sullivan opened up a one shot lead at the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai with a second consecutive 66 as Rory McIlroy tightened his grip on The Race to Dubai.
The Englishman is the only man on The European Tour to have claimed three wins so far this season and kept on course for another with six birdies to establish a slim advantage over Emiliano Grillo.
The Argentinian carded a brilliant, unblemished 64 to fire himself to the top of the leaderboard and looked to have secured a share of the halfway lead until Sullivan holed a third long putt of the day on the 18th to get to 12 under.
That sent a large travelling band of Sullivan fans wild around the green and the leader was grateful to have so much support so far from home.
"It's absolutely awesome, to be leading after halfway in such a massive event, it's incredible," he said. "I'm just happy I'm doing it in front of my fans, so keep them happy for the weekend anyway.
"It's massive and probably a key part of me playing well this week because they just keep going. Even when you start hitting a few wayward shots, things start going wrong, the adrenaline gets going and it's absolutely fantastic.
"They have followed me about six or seven times this year and every time they have been there, I've done pretty well. So I think I am going to have to start paying for them to come out every week now!
There's a lot of good guys going to be chasing me over the weekend and I'm sure they are going to come at me - Andy Sullivan
"For me, it's just try and do what I did today, be patient and try to play my game and not worry about anyone else."
He added: "I felt like I played really good the front nine without holing a massive amount and then the one on 12 up the hill, I holed a long one there. The putter just seemed to get crazy hot from there and everything I looked at pretty much went in.
"It's a nice feeling when it happens like that. I'm sure it might not be for the weekend but that's just about me handling it out there and trying to just control things and if the putter doesn't get hot, just try to hit as many good shots as possible."
Patrick Reed was then at nine under with Race to Dubai leader McIlroy a further shot back after a second consecutive 68 got him within four shots of the lead and, equally importantly, two clear of nearest challenger Danny Willett.
McIlroy was playing alongside Grillo and he and Willett had continued to go toe-to-toe in their battle to be Europe's Number One before the Northern Irishman moved ahead on the back nine.
The duo, separated by just 1,613 points coming into the week, turned in 35 and after a pair of birdies on the tenth they could not be split. But McIlroy made further gains on the 13th and 15th while Willett also birdied the 15th but gave the shot straight back at the next.
While Sullivan goes in hunt for a fourth title of the season, Grillo has yet to win on The European Tour but is encouraged by recent victories on the US PGA Tour and the Web.com Tour.
"It gives you a lot of confidence," he said. "We know there it's not easy. Anywhere it's not easy. I was lucky enough to get two wins in a row and that gets me twice the confidence.
It's pretty much like a Major here. You've got the best players in the world and you've got to play really well to keep it up - Emiliano Grillo
"I played here last year and didn't feel comfortable on the golf course, but something changed this year. I'm hitting the ball very nicely, very pleased the way I played and hopefully I can keep it going for the next few days."
Sullivan had not enjoyed the best of form in The Final Series after winning the Portugal Masters in October but finished strongly at the BMW Masters and has brought that momentum with him to the Earth Course.
Kiradech Aphibarnrat was the first man to make a major move on day two as he recovered from a bogey at the first to post a 65 courtesy of three birdies in the last four holes and join the overnight leaders at six under.
But he was soon surpassed by Bernd Wiesberger who turned in 32 and a birdie at the last helped him to match the 65 of the Thai and move to seven under.
When the late starters got under way, Sullivan was the first man to make a move, putting his approach shot on the first inside three feet and when he repeated the trick with his approach to the par five seventh, he was eight under.
That was good enough for a share of the lead with Charl Schwartzel who birdied four of the last five holes to set the clubhouse target with a 65 but Thongchai Jaidee was the next man to move ahead with a birdie on the 14th.
The Thai, who has three top 15 finishes since his win at the Porsche European Open in late September, gave the shot back on the 16th to also finish at eight under.
Reed has finished in the top ten in each of his last three events - including a loss in a play-off in Shanghai last week - and he bettered Schwartzel's finish with five birdies in his last six holes to set the bar higher again at nine under.
Grillo had been making nice progress throughout the day, turning in 33, and birdies at the tenth, 13th and 15th moved him alongside Reed. Big finishes seemed to be the order of the day and another birdie on the 16th saw him become the first man to double figures before a birdie at the last got him to 11 under.
That was the low round of the week so far but Sullivan would not be shaken off and while his first two birdies had been created by good approaches, his second two came from the putter. The 28 year old drained one from 35 feet on the 12th and then followed that up with a 20 foot effort on the 14th.
His large travelling support was getting excited and a third almighty cheer in four holes went up as he found the cup on the 15th to move alongside Grillo in top spot.
Makeable birdie chances were missed at the 16th and 17th but a long putt from the fringe on the last ensured Sullivan would take a lead into the weekend.
Reed will go out in the penultimate group ahead of Sullivan and Grillo on Saturday and he insists his recent near misses will not be playing on his mind.
"Golf's a game where you can't let everything distract you and bother you," he said.
"You're going to have times where you close out events and you're going to have other times where you let some slip away. You're going to hit some good shots and end up getting bad bounces, and you're going to have bad shots and get good bounces.
"It's how you handle all of it and how you move forward. I felt like I've done that pretty well and matured in that aspect of the game to not let anything linger on."
Justin Rose still has a chance of winning The Race to Dubai and he put himself into a good position going into the weekend with four birdies in his last four holes helping him to a 66.
The Englishman turned in 35 but six birdies on the back nine helped him get to seven under alongside Alex Noren who carded a 66, Branden Grace who signed for a 69 and Wiesberger.
Matthew Fitzpatrick was with them in the share of seventh after a 69 as he chases a tenth top ten of the season while Martin Kaymer never quite got going alongside Sullivan but was just five back.
Grace is one of seven players who came into this week with a chance of winning The Race to Dubai with Byeong-hun An at six under, Louis Oosthuizen three shots further back and Shane Lowry at one over.
Marcus Fraser, Tyrrell Hatton, Francesco Molinari, Thomas Pieters and Chris Wood were alongside An, Aphibarnrat and Willett at six under.
