Lucas Herbert and Bryson DeChambeau will go out in the final pairing of Saturday's third round of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic after the pair ended Friday's second round sharing the lead on -12.
Herbert carded a nine-under 63 on Friday, while DeChambeau hit a second successive 66 at Emirates Golf Club.
They are one shot clear of three-time Dubai victor Ernie Els, who is looking for a first title at the event since 2005, and 2011 champion Alvaro Quiros.
Defending champion Haotong Li is among a group of five players on -10 after he shot 67, while Thursday's leader Matthew Fitzpatrick is on -9 after carding a 70.
Shane Lowry, who won the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship presented by EGA last week in thrilling fashion, is in contention for back-to-back European Tour titles after his 67 left him on -8, four shots behind Herbert and DeChambeau.
The cut was made at -2 and for the second successive week Henrik Stenson was going home early as he could only muster -2.
Richard Sterne, who was runner-up in Abu Dhabi, and Joost Luiten, who was third, also missed the cut as did Colin Montgomerie, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Dubai amateur Rayhan Thomas.
The action starts on Saturday at 7.11am with the first tee off, with Herbert and DeChambeau in the final pairing at 12.50pm.
