Hideto Tanihara will take the lead into the weekend for the first time in his European Tour career after firing a bogey-free 66 on day two of the Omega European Masters.
The Japanese moved to nine under in the morning at Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club and nobody could reel him in, although he had a high-class chasing pack breathing down his neck.
Defending champion Matthew Fitzpatrick matched the lowest round of the week with a 64 to sit at seven under alongside Dane Lucas Bjerregaard and American Doug Ghim.
The group in fifth then combined for ten European Tour titles including a Major Championship with Scot Stephen Gallacher, Frenchman Mike Lorenzo-Vera, South African Haydn Porteous and England's Danny Willett at six under.
Tanihara is a 14-time winner on the Japan Golf Tour but announced himself to the European Tour last season as he finished fourth at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play and in a tie for third at the BMW PGA Championship.
He has three top tens so far this season as he looks for his first win in his first full season on Tour.
“My game was very consistent and if my putting was better I would have been able to get higher on the score,” he said. “I was able to play like yesterday. I just want to focus on my putting more and then I will be better.
“There are a lot of great players here and I just want to concentrate on playing my game. Just want to focus and hopefully play two more days like this.”
Tanihara started the day at five under and joined the lead with a birdie on the driveable par four seventh before edging ahead with another on the 12th.
He took advantage of the par five 14th to edge two ahead but needed to make smart par saves on the 15th and 16th before hitting an excellent approach into ten feet at the 17th for a fourth birdie of the day.
Fitzpatrick missed the cut on his first visit to the mountains in 2014 but has been formidable since, finishing second in 2015, seventh in 2016 and winning his fourth European Tour title here last season.
There are a lot of great players here and I just want to concentrate on playing my game - Hideto Tanihara
In that time he has recorded just two over par rounds, with Friday's effort his seventh circuit of 65 or better in Crans-Montana.
The Englishman made bogeys on the first and fourth but responded with three birdies in a row and made another at the ninth to turn in 33. He put an approach to tap-in range on the tenth and then made further gains on the 12th and 14th before holing a 12-footer on the last.
Portugal Masters champion Bjerregaard arrived in Switzerland off the back of two top tens and quickly emerged as Tanihara's closest challenger in the afternoon.
He birdied the first, third, sixth, seventh and ninth to turn in 30 and was within one of the lead with another gain on the 14th before bogeying the last.
Ghim finished second at last season's US Amateur to earn entry to the Masters Tournament and the US Open, finishing as the low amateur at Augusta National and turning professional after playing at Shinnecock Hills in June.
This is just the 22 year old's second regular European Tour event after missing the cut at last week's Made in Denmark and he made an early bogey on the 11th but followed it with gains on the 12th, 15th, 17th, 18th, fifth and eighth.
Gallacher made birdies on the third, seventh, eighth, 11th - thanks to a tee-shot to two feet - 12th and 15th to get within one of the lead but double-bogeyed the 18th.
Lorenzo-Vera had a double-bogey in his 66 but also had seven birdies and a bogey, while 2015 champion Willett had a birdie-birdie-birdie finish and just a single blemish in recording the same score.
Porteous recovered from an opening bogey with birdies on the fifth, sixth, eighth, ninth, 14th and 15th in his 65.
South African Thomas Aiken, India's SSP Chawrasia, Spaniard Nacho Elvira, German Maximilian Kieffer, Dane Søren Kjeldsen, Frenchman Alexander Levy and China's Wu Ashun were four shots off the lead.
Australian Marcus Fraser made the 31st hole-in-one of the season on the eighth when he holed an eight iron from 175 yards.
