Tateo Ozaki shot up the leaderboard after firing an 8-under-par 64 on Saturday to move into a three-way tie for the lead after the second round of the rain-reduced Asia-Japan Okinawa Open.
Ozaki carded an eagle and eight birdies to join overnight leader Ted Purdy of the United States (70) and Hiroyuki Fujita (68) at the top of the provisional leaderboard on a 9-under total of 135.
"I wish the season was starting now," joked Ozaki. "A one-off tournament like this one is a bit like getting an early Christmas present."
Fiji's Dinesh Chand finished one stroke back in second after a 66 while Katsuya Nakagawa (66), South Korea's James Oh (67) and American Greg Hanrahan (70) lie a further shot off the pace.