The Commercial Bank Qatar Masters was set for a frantic weekend after a record-breaking nine players moved into a tie for the lead after two rounds at Doha Golf Club.
Welshman Bradley Dredge held the lead overnight at eight under and he was joined there by South Africans Thomas Aiken and Jaco Van Zyl, Thai Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Spanish duo Jorge Campillo and Nacho Elvira, Finn Mikko Korhonen, Englishman Andy Sullivan and South Korean Jeunghun Wang.
There was a nine-way tie for the first-round lead at The Celtic Manor Wales Open in 2007 but never before in European Tour history have nine players shared the lead after 36 holes.
Dane Lucas Bjerregaard, Ireland's Paul Dunne, Englishmen Simon Dyson, Chris Hanson, Jordan Smith and Anthony Wall, and American Daniel Im were then at seven under, with 31 players separated by just three shots at the top of the leaderboard.
Higher winds had made scoring more difficult on Friday but that did not stop England's Chris Paisley making a hole-in-one on the 17th on his way to a birdie-eagle-birdie finish that saw him make the cut by two shots at three under.
Dredge and Campillo were playing together and while the latter began the day five shots behind his partner, it was he who made a big move early.
He birdied the 11th, 14th, 17th and 18th to turn in 32 but a lovely chip on the 16th helped Dredge open up a two-shot lead at the turn.
Korhonen was two back alongside Campillo as he played his first ten holes in level par despite a double-bogey on the tenth and when Dredge found a bunker off the tee on the third, the lead was down to one.
Elvira had turned in 35 but an eagle on the tenth brought his round to life and when he added a birdie on the 12th, with Korhonen making one of his own on the 13th, there was a three-way tie for the lead.
That did not last long as Dredge bounced back with a beautiful approach to the fourth but he got in trouble off the tee on the sixth, while Elvira had a roller coaster finish with bogeys on the 13th and 15th and a birdie on the 16th.
Korhonen parred his way home and while Campillo reeled off eight pars in a row, he birdied the ninth to get in on the act before Aiken and Sullivan made their moves.
Sullivan began his round with ten straight pars and all his frustration came out in a big celebration on the second that set up a 68. The three-time winner went on to birdie the fourth, seventh and eighth - courtesy of a tee-shot to three feet - to get to eight under.
Aiken had made a strong start with birdies on the tenth and 11th but then made 13 pars before he birdied the seventh and ninth.
For a long time none of the later starters looked like they would join the pack but Van Zyl put his approach to six feet on the ninth in a 69 and he was soon joined by Aphibarnrat and Wang.
Wang had turned in 33 after a birdie-birdie start and another birdie on the tenth got him to within one of the summit before he put his approach to six feet on the 14th.
Aphibarnrat had to work a bit harder, recovering from bogeys on the first and sixth with gains on the tenth, 12th and 16th, and holing an 18-footer on the 17th.
Bjerregaard fired a 68 while Hanson and Wall were both bogey-free in rounds of 69. Im and Dyson also signed for rounds of 69, with Dunne recording a 70 before Smith produced an excellent 66 in the afternoon.
Paisley recorded the third hole-in-one of the season as he holed a nine-iron from 135 yards on the 17th to win 150,000 US dollars to spend in Qatar Duty Free.
