Erik van Rooyen opened up a two shot lead heading into the final nine holes of the Trophée Hassan II as he went in search of a first European Tour title at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam.
The South African has two runner up finishes on the European Tour, including at last season's Joburg Open which earned him a Major debut at The Open Championship.
He also finished second at this season's Commercial Bank Qatar Masters and a win this week would move him into the top 100 on the Official World Golf Ranking.
The 29-year-old turned in level par on Sunday and stayed at eight under, two clear of Spaniard Jorge Campillo and Americans David Lipsky and Julian Suri.
Scotsman Grant Forrest was then at five under, one ahead of America's Sean Crocker, Australian Wade Ormsby, Austrian Matthias Schwab and England's Jordan Smith.
There was little movement from the earlier starters and when Campillo bogeyed the par three second, Van Rooyen's overnight lead had quickly been increased to two shots.
Van Rooyen missed a short par putt on the third for his first bogey of the day but Campillo and Crocker also both dropped shots and the lead stayed at two.
Suri put his approach to eight feet on the sixth to cut the lead to one and Forrest joined him at six under after getting on the par five fifth in two.
Van Rooyen left himself 12 feet for eagle on the same hole but had to settle for a birdie that got him back to eight under.
Crocker's drive on the fifth went a long way left and he surrendered another bogey on the next, with Van Rooyen moving four shots clear of the players in fifth.
Lipsky was having a roller coaster of a round, going bogey-birdie-bogey-birdie from the fourth, and another gain on the par five eighth moved him to five under.
A wonderful tee shot into the par three ninth then made it a hat-trick of gains for the Alfred Dunhill Championship winner and he was just two off the lead.
That was soon behind Forrest, however, who got up and down from a greenside bunker on the eighth to move into solo second.
But his time at seven under did not last long as the European Challenge Tour graduate found the water at the par three next and surrendered a double bogey.
Campillo had made a good par save at the seventh and he made it count as he took advantage of the par five next to get within two.
