Oliver Fisher and Eddie Pepperell saw their shared overnight lead extended to three shots as the final round of the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters got under way.
The tee-times had been moved up due to the threat of bad weather and the rain did come overnight with conditions the toughest they had been all week, although the wind was still relatively light for Doha Golf Club.
The English pair entered the day at 16 under and three pars apiece in the early stages kept them at that mark.
Playing partner Sean Crocker had been two off the lead but he bogeyed the first and third, with Spaniard Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño and Frenchman Grégory Havret replacing him as the nearest challengers at 13 under.
Pepperell found some brilliant form at the end of 2017, securing four top fives and three top tens from his last ten events but he missed his first two cuts this season before playing the weekend in Malaysia and Oman.
The 27 year old has been working with a new coach recently as he goes in search of a first European Tour title, while Fisher has a win at the 2011 Czech Open but no top three since the 2014 Africa Open.
Fernandez-Castaño made a birdie on the first and when he added another on the fourth he was up to 13 under. That was a share of second after American Crocker dropped a shot on his opener.
A nice approach into the fourth allowed Havret to make his first birdie of the day and he joined the group three off the lead.
Crocker found sand off the tee on the third to drop to 12 under alongside Spanish duo Pablo Larrazábal and Adrian Otaegui.
Otaegui had birdies on the third and seventh in his first seven holes, while Larrazábal had a gain on the first in his opening five.
South Africa's George Coetzee, Italian Lorenzo Gagli, German Sebastian Heisele, Swede Marcus Kinhult, Frenchman Mike Lorenzo-Vera and Japan's Hideto Tanihara were at 11 under.
