Jamie Donaldson picked up two birdies to maintain his one-shot advantage as the weather-delayed second round of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic got under way at Emirates Golf Club.
The Welshman had flirted with a 59 before signing for an opening 62 and the overnight lead on Thursday, and he carried that form into the second day in the UAE.
Fog caused a delay of two hours and 50 minutes in the morning but when play did start low scoring was once again the order of the day, with just 12 of the 132-man field over par.
Spaniard Miguel Ángel Jiménez was rolling back the years to sit just a shot off the lead, with Australian Andrew Dodt then at ten under.
Donaldson birdied the second and then made a six-footer on the eighth to turn in 33 and get to 12 under.
Jiménez, 54, played just seven events - his lowest tally since 1988 - last season as he switches his attention more towards the seniors game but he proved he can still mix it with birdies on the tenth, 12th, 13th, 16th and 18th in his first ten holes.
Dodt was celebrating his 32nd birthday on Australia Day and he had shared the lead with Donaldson after birdies on the 12th, 13th, 17th, second and an eagle on the 18th before bogeying the fifth.
South Africa's Branden Grace was also five under for his first 11 holes to sit at nine under alongside China's Li Haotong, Englishman Anthony Wall and David Horsey, who was among the later starters.
Thomas Aiken, Alejandro Cañizares, Tyrrell Hatton and Martin Kaymer were then eight under.
Matthew Southgate was in the group at seven under, with the highlight of his first 14 holes an ace on the seventh from 154 yards with a nine iron that won him an Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra.
