Jaco Van Zyl kept hold of his lead during the second round of the Turkish Airlines Open but a strong chasing pack made sure it was all to play for going into the weekend at the Montgomerie Maxx Royal.
The South African opened with a 61 on Thursday and looked like he was going to blow the field away in the second round as he established a seven shot lead just after the turn.
But water trouble on the fourth and eighth saw him register his first two bogeys of the week and left the door open for Richard Bland and Chris Wood get within two shots.
Van Zyl's 14 under total equalled the 36-hole record set by Ian Poulter last year but he will still have a lot of work to do to win his first European Tour title with Race to Dubai leader Rory McIlroy and 2013 champion here Victor Dubuisson both in the top ten.
Two-time 2015 winner Kiradech Aphibarnrat, two-time Order of Merit winner Lee Westwood and former US Open champion Graeme McDowell are also within five shots of the leader but Van Zyl is enjoying leading from the front.
It's always good fun. That's why we practise hours and hours and hours to be in this position. It's just nice to be able to enjoy it - Jaco Van Zyl
"It's a field of quality players and they have all played nicely to be here at the end of the day. To be in this position is really an honour, and hopefully we can stay in the mix until the last nine holes on Sunday."
The leader flew out of the blocks with a birdie on the 11th and when he followed it with another on the 13th, he was eight under in seven par fives played so far this week.
Another birdie followed on the 15th and Van Zyl was just millimetres from claiming another from eight feet on the 16th before he got one to drop on the 17th.
He failed to take advantage of a par five for the first time on the 18th but when he picked up a birdie on the first, the lead was seven shots.
The 36 year old then found water off the tee on the fourth and eighth to drop two shots but will be in the last group out on Saturday.
"I got off to a nice start today," he added. "I felt really comfortable out there and played nicely. Unfortunately a couple of loose shots on the back nine and I shot one over par.
"We just turned into the breeze. Misjudged the wind a little bit, hit it in the water unfortunately and resulted in a bogey.
"Then five, six, seven, eight - four good holes, playing into the breeze, hitting a lot of long irons in there. Tough play, sloppy greens - going through there level par is not too bad and I just unfortunately hit a really bad shot on eight."
Bland stormed into a share of second courtesy of a stunning back nine of just 28. Starting on the tenth, the Englishman had been level par at the turn but seven birdies followed on the first, second, third, fourth, six, eighth and ninth.
Wood opened with a birdie but gave the shot back before gains on the third, fourth and sixth saw him turn in 32. Further birdies followed on the 11th, 13th and 17th as the 27 year old made it 12 consecutive rounds below 70.
Dubuisson was then at 11 under after a birdie-birdie finish helped him to an unblemished 64 to sit alongside Fabrizio Zanotti.
The Paraguayan has three top fives in his last five starts after missing his opening seven cuts of the season and picked up an eagle and six birdies on his way to a 66.
McIlroy was at ten under after a second consecutive 67 as he aims to get The Final Series off to a perfect start in his hunt for a third Race to Dubai title in four years.
He picked up shots at the first, fourth, 11th, 12th and 13th and made an impressive par save on the last to share sixth place with Alexander Levy who fired an impressive bogey-free 65.
McDowell also fired a 65 to sit a further shot back alongside Aphibarnrat and Westwood at nine under.
The round of the day belonged to Matthew Fitzpatrick who recovered from a disappointing opening 73 to go 10 shots better on Friday.
He carded nine birdies and nine pars to get to eight under par as the British Masters supported by Sky Sports champion continued his remarkable rookie season.
Fitzpatrick may have shot the low round of the day but the most remarkable second round belonged to two-time 2015 winner Thomas Pieters.
The Belgian opened birdie-birdie-birdie-eagle but then triple-bogeyed the tenth before picking up shots on the 13th, 15th, 17th and 18th to sign for a 66 and sit six under.
Shane Lowry was also six under, a shot clear of Danny Willett - McIlroy's closest challenger in The Race to Dubai.
