Thomas Detry picked up three shots in his opening four holes to join the lead on day three of the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.
The Belgian started round three two shots off the lead but eagled the first and birdied the third to jump out to nine under.
Co-overnight leader Justin Harding then birdied his opener to also sit at nine under, a shot clear of South Africans George Coetzee and Erik van Rooyen, Spaniard Nacho Elvira, Japan's Masahiro Kawamura, Frenchman Mike Lorenzo-Vera and England's Oliver Wilson.
South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout was then in the clubhouse at seven under after an excellent 66 in windier conditions than on day two at Doha Golf Club.
There were 48 players separated by five shots at the end of round two and when the later groups got under way, there was quickly a seven way tie for the lead.
Detry eagled the par five first from 12 feet, with playing partner Kawamura also getting to eight under with a birdie and, in the group behind, Van Rooyen birdied his opener to share top spot.
Elvira had birdied the first and he picked up another shot on the third to increase the leading logjam.
Detry broke out of that group with a 20 foot birdie on the third and when our leaders walked off the first green, Harding had a birdie after a fine chip and was alongside him.
Bezuidenhout then set the target after a week that has seen him get some attention for his fascinating blog for europeantour.com, but the 24-year-did not seem at all distracted as he started his round with four straight birdies.
He then bogeyed the sixth and birdied the ninth to turn in 32 and came home in 34 with birdies on the tenth, 12th and 18th and a bogey on the 11th.
Wilson joined the group in second with a birdie at the third as he stayed bogey free for the week through three holes.
Coetzee and Lorenzo-Vera started their rounds with three pars.
Jake McLeod - who earned his place on Tour by winning last season's ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia - made the fifth hole-in-one of the season with a seven iron from 171 yards on the third.
That followed fellow Australian Deyen Lawson's ace on the 17th in round two.
