Lee Westwood produced a stunning round of 62 to share the clubhouse lead with Marc Warren and Yuta Ikeda on day two of the Maybank Championship.
The Englishman is a two-time winner in Malaysia - including the latest of his 23 European Tour wins in 2014 - and he was once again making himself at home at Saujana Golf & Country Club.
Westwood was two over after ten holes of his first round but has gone 12 under for his last 26 to get to ten under for the week.
Japanese Ikeda joined him after carding a second-round 64 on a frantic morning when 12 different players held a share of the lead at some point.
Warren then signed for a 66 to make it a three-way tie and sit a shot ahead of fellow Scot Stephen Gallacher and two more Japanese players in Hideto Tanihara and Daisuke Kataoka.
Frenchman Alexander Levy had looked set to take control of the second round when he quickly jumped out to nine under but a double-bogey on the eighth dropped him back into a four-way tie, a theme that would continue until Westwood, Ikeda and then Warren broke out of the pack.
The Scot was one of the 40 players who had to return to complete their first rounds after storms on Thursday but could not make any progress and began round two at four under.
He birdied the first and fifth and after dropping a shot on the sixth, rattled off a hat-trick of gains to tun in 32 and join the lead.
Ikeda had more work to do to get into the leading pack after starting the day at two under but birdies on the 11th, 13th, 15th, 18th, first and third moved him to eight under.
Westwood birdied the 12th and 13th and then made five in a row from the 16th before dropping a shot on the fourth. He picked it straight back up on the par five next and when he also birdied the seventh, he was in a six-way tie at the top.
Ikeda broke out of that group with a birdie on the sixth but Westwood joined him with a gain on the eighth before the 32 year old got into double figures to edge ahead on the next.
Warren birdied the 14th to get within one of the lead before Westwood joined it with a third birdie in a row.
Warren then birdied the last to make it a three-way tie.
Gallacher began his round with an eagle and, after dropping a shot on the fourth, made a hat-trick of birdies from the fifth. Further gains followed on the tenth and 13th and while he dropped a shot on the 14th, he would make a birdie-birdie finish.
Tanihara was playing alongside Westwood and he started with a bogey but then made gains on the 11th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 18th and first. Another bogey on the third was then followed by a hat-trick of birdies, and another shot was picked up on the eighth.
Kataoka had a birdie-birdie finish in his round of 67 to go with five other gains and two bogeys.
Both of Andrew Dodt's European Tour wins have come in Asia and he was at eight under after a 65 containing a single bogey.
Levy was then at seven under alongside countryman Mike Lorenzo-Vera, defending champion Fabrizio Zanotti, local favourite Gavin Green, England's Andy Sullivan and Indian Khalin H Joshi.
First-round leader Chris Paisley was also seven under having played four holes of his second round.
