Eugenio Chacarra played through the pain of a fractured toe on home soil to leapfrog Rory McIlroy into second place on the season-long standings as the Race to Dubai gets set for a thrilling conclusion.
Patrick Reed has been sat atop the Race to Dubai Rankings Delivered by DP World since February but he has had an ominous chasing pack gathering behind him.
That pack had long been led by Masters champion McIlroy but Chacarra put himself in contention with two wins over the summer and after finishing in a tie for third at the FedEx Open de France and a tie for second at last week's Open de España presented by Madrid, he is now Reed's closest challenger.
All three tee it up at this week's DP World India Championship and any of them - along with fourth-placed Casey Jarvis - could be top of the Rankings come Sunday, with 835.00 points available to the winner.
Chacarra and Jarvis will then have the chance to earn more points at the regular-season-ending Genesis Championship, with McIlroy and Reed not teeing it up before we head into the Play-Offs.
McIlroy is confirmed to play the Rolex Series double-header of Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship and DP World Tour Championship, with the ennanced points on offer meaning many players could yet jump out of the crowd and take the crown.
At the other end of the Rankings, Eddie Pepperell moved up one place in Madrid but it was a vital move that took him into the top 100 who secure Category 10 status and the ability to play an almost full schedule next season.
He had to do it the hard way, birdieing four of his last six holes in round two to make the cut, with a final tie for 55th and 15.83 points moving him from 101st to 100th on the season-long standings.
Playing in Category 18 as a Qualifying School graduate, he is not currently in-line to play in Korea so a good week looks to be needed in India to keep full playing privileges.
"I guess there's playing for things like playing rights and stuff as well, but that's not been truthfully on my mind that much," said Pepperell, who has been suffering with a neck injury, on Friday in Madrid.
"I've been injured, so that's kind of been the big thing, just trying to play through some of the discomfort there, which I managed to do well last week [at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship] and so far this week.
"Although I haven't played very well this week, so yeah, I just wasn't expecting to have the final six holes I just had.
"I'm not thinking too much about that stuff. I could have thought about that for three years now at this point. It just drives you mad. I'm still just trying to play better golf."
Elsewhere on the Rankings, Open de España presented by Madrid winner Grant Forrest jumped 91 places to 27th and is now Locked In for the Play-Offs.
