Yusaku Miyazato opened up a one-shot advantage as the leaderboard continued to be congested on day three of the Maybank Championship.
The Japanese claimed four wins last season to finish number one on the Japan Golf Tour but is playing on the European Tour for just the seventh time at Saujana Golf & Country Club and in his first regular event.
He picked up seven shots in his first 12 holes to get to 13 under and lead the way from Italian Nino Bertasio, Spaniard Jorge Campillo, Indian Shiv Kapur and Thai Phachara Khongwatmai, with 40 players within five shots of the leader.
With just three shots separating the top 24 players overnight, the opportunity was there to make a move on leaders Bertasio and Khongwatmai and the move came quickly.
On Friday 15 different players had held a share of the lead at some point and there was already a ten-way tie as the final group were walking down the first.
New Zealander Ryan Fox joined that group in spectacular style as he made the first albatross of the season on the first, holing his second shot on the par five with a six iron from 213 yards.
The logjam at the top was soon broken as Bertasio eagled the same hole to get to 13 under, with a birdie from Khongwatmai also moving him out of the pack.
Miyazato had started the day five shots off the lead and teed off on the tenth, making birdies on his opener, the 11th, 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th with a bogey on the 14th to turn in 31.
He then eagled the first for the third day in a row to jump into a share of the lead.
The 37 year old had the lead on his own when Bertasio three-putted the third and dropped back to 12 under.
Fox moved into that group as he took advantage of the par five fifth and he was joined by Campillo and Kapur.
Campillo had an eagle on the first and birdie on the fifth in his first five holes, while Kapur made birdies on the first, third, fifth, ninth and 11th.
Fox gave his gain straight back on the sixth and dropped to 11 under alongside Belgian Thomas Detry, American Berry Henson, England's Lee Westwood and Japanese pair Yuta Ikeda and Hideto Tanihara.
