Paul Lawrie birdied the first hole of his third and final round at the Commercialbank Qatar Masters presented by Dolphin Energy to maintain his one shot lead.
With Australian Jason Day charging up the leaderboard, 1999 winner Lawrie remained one clear after two holes on nine under par.
World Number Ten Day made a dream start with four straight birdies to move into solo second, while American John Daly was also in the hunt after replicating his first-day form over the opening holes.
The two-time Major winner birdied three of the first four to join another long hitter, Nicolas Colsaerts, on seven under par.
Sergio Garcia and Peter Hanson were far from out of it on six under as a host of star names jostled for position behind former Open Champion Lawrie.
