Nicolas Colsaerts put on a stunning display at Regnum Carya Golf & Spa Resort to take a four-shot lead into the weekend at the Turkish Airlines Open.
The sixth Rolex Series event and accompanying seven million US dollar prize fund brought an elite field to Turkey but none of the rest could keep pace with Colsaerts as he moved to 14 under with a bogey-free 64.
Englishman Eddie Pepperell was his nearest challenger after a 66, with Thailand's Kiradech Aphibarnrat then at nine under thanks to a 67.
Scotland's Stephen Gallacher, English pair Matthew Fitzpatrick and Matthew Southgate, and Ireland's Shane Lowry were then at eight under.
Big-hitting Belgian Colsaerts won the last of his two European Tour titles in 2012 en route to making the Ryder Cup Team for the Miracle at Medinah and his best finish so far this season was a tie for third in the inaugural Rolex Series event at the BMW PGA Championship.
"I'm only four ahead," he said. "It's not like I'm eight ahead. I have two rounds to play and so do the other guys. If I'm capable of doing what I did the first two rounds, I think there's a bunch of guys that are capable of doing the same.
"I just have to make sure I keep playing the way I do, not get ahead of myself and bring those good vibes that I had the first two rounds to the last two.
"I wasn't quite as good off the tee, I thought, but still played great shots into greens and holed the putts that I thought I should have been making. So it felt a little bit more like work today but it's pretty satisfying to go seven under again without, I thought, playing as smoothly."
Colsaerts played the first in textbook fashion, leaving himself about 12 feet for birdie and holing the putt to move into the lead on his own, and he birdied the third as he holed a left-to-righter from ten feet.
A towering iron shot over a tree and into five feet on the fifth handed Colsaerts a three-shot lead and it was four as he put his tee-shot on the par three sixth to 12 feet.
I just have to make sure I keep playing the way I do, not get ahead of myself and bring those good vibes that I had the first two rounds to the last two - Nicolas Colsaerts
A run of four pars saw the lead cut but the 34 year old played a shot from the rough to six feet on the 11th and got up and down from the side of the green on the par five next to lead by five.
He briefly held a six-shot advantage after recovering from putting his tee-shot in the sand on the par five 15th for a birdie but a good finish from Pepperell closed the gap.
This time last year Pepperell was battling for his card at the Qualifying School after finishing 113th in the Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex but he has had no such trouble in 2017.
Birdies on the first, seventh and 11th had him in the mix before he hit a stunning iron over the trees to set up another gain on the 17th and holed from eight feet on the last to cut the deficit.
Life is never dull with Aphibarnrat and the three-time European Tour winner had seven birdies and three bogeys in his round, the highlight of which was a stunning approach from the rough to tap-in range on the ninth.
Gallacher made five birdies and stayed bogey-free for the week in his 65, while Fitzpatrick was also without a blemish and made an eagle on the 15th.
A superb up-and-down from the rough on the last kept Southgate's 65 pristine, while Lowry had surged up the leaderboad with four birdies in five holes from the 13th before a bogey on the last saw him settle for a 66.
England's Lee Westwood was then at seven under, a shot clear of Dane Søren Kjeldsen, Belgian Thomas Pieters, England's Jordan Smith and American Peter Uihlein.
