Louis Oosthuizen made his move up the Qatar Masters leaderboard on Friday afternoon as the South African's flawless second-round front nine left him a shot adrift of clubhouse leader Andrew Coltart.
With 1998 Qatar champion Coltart on nine-under-par following a solid three-under 69, Oosthuizen continued the form which saw the 26-year-old narrowly miss out on a maiden European Tour title in Abu Dhabi last week.
After dropping just one bogey yesterday, Oosthuizen picked up a first shot at the 452-yard par-four fifth before reaching the turn in a flourish with back-to-back birdies.
Earlier, joint overnight leader Coltart claimed the outright lead with a steady trip around Doha Golf Club in mild morning conditions.
"I'm pleased. There is always a question whether you can follow up a low round and I think I managed it," said the 38-year-old Scot.
"I think if you go around that course and shoot under par you have done really well and off the back of the 66 I was really proud of it."
Coltart grabbed his first birdie with a 10-foot putt at the eighth before another followed to start the back nine after two-putting the par five.
A three-putt a hole later accounted for his only bogey, but a chip-in three at the 12th pushed him back to two under before a up and down at 16 brought the Scot home.
He added: "There were some scrappy moments, it is the type of game you cannot play the same one day to a next, but I got the job done with a couple of nice chips, a couple of nice pitches and a couple of nice putts and three under I'm happy with.
"It was by no means the perfect round of golf, but I am delighted to shoot under par."
Portugal Masters champion Alvaro Quiros leapt up the leaderboard and into second place at eight-under with a five-under 67 which included seven birdies from the young Spaniard.
Quiros' round was helped by a hat-trick of birdies to finish, although he was fortunate his attempted lay-up at the last rebounded off a rock and only landed in semi-rough.
"I was playing well last week and didn't have any luck," said the 26-year-old.
"Yesterday I played good again and I didn't have any luck either so today was the day.
"I'm working well and putting good, sometimes with luck and sometimes without and that is the difference between a good score and a bad score."
Joint overnight leader Miguel Angel Jimenez was unable to build on his bogey-free first-round 66 but was satisfied with a one-under 71 which left the Spaniard alone in fourth at seven-under.
Defending champion Adam Scott, who has a 100% record at Doha Golf Club after also winning in 2002, carded a second-round 70 to move to one-under.
At the other end of the leaderboard, American Ryder Cup winner Boo Weekley (73), Abu Dhabi winner Paul Casey (69), Justin Rose (72) and Colin Montgomerie (75) were all set to miss the cut.
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