Wade Ormsby of Australia birdied two of his closing three holes to share the clubhouse lead with Arnond Vongvanij of Thailand in the second round of the rain-affected Ballantine's Championship on Friday.
Arnond also birdied the 18th, as the pair strive for their first European Tour title at Blackstone Resort.
Ormsby carded a 5-under-par 67 to be tied on 7-under with Arnond, who signed for a 69.
Three players - England's James Morrison (66), Sweden's Alexander Noren (67) and South African Jbe Kruger (67) - shared third place at 6 under.
After the first day was delayed by fog and rain, play stopped on Friday for more than an hour because of an electrical storm, leaving 77 players to complete the second round early Saturday.
Ormsby joined half of the field in returning to the course early Friday to complete his first round with a score of 70. Then he birdied four of his outward nine holes and while he bogeyed his 11th, the No. 2, the Australian finished off his second round in fine manner by holing a 20-foot putt at his 16th and sinking a 50-footer at his last.
The Ballantine's is Ormsby's 168th Race to Dubai tournament. His best European Tour result was joint second in the 2007 New Zealand Open.
However, after 13 years in the professional ranks, he finally broke through in the last fortnight to capture his maiden title in winning the Asian Tour's Panasonic Open in New Delhi, India.
''The game is in pretty good shape and I came here after a good few weeks back home practicing,'' Ormsby said. ''It's just nice to come back out and keep the good form going.''
Louis Oosthuizen, the 2010 British Open winner, was credited with a bizarre near 500-yard long drive at the start of his second round.
Teeing off at the 10th hole, his ball landed on a cart path, and kept rolling downhill for just under two minutes before coming to rest. Oosthuizen was afforded a free drop and managed to save par before eventually signing for a 71 and a 4-under total.
