Lee Westwood maintained his one-shot lead but he was facing an intimidating chasing pack in the second round of the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai at Jumeirah Golf Estates.
A single birdie in his opening four holes moved the Englishman to seven under but that was just one clear of the experienced trio of Sergio Garcia, Joost Luiten and Francesco Molinari.
Henrik Stenson was the clubhouse leader at three under after a 69 and the Race to Dubai leader remained in the box seat for the Harry Vardon trophy.
Nicolas Colsaerts, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Tyrrell Hatton, Alexander Levy and Julien Quesne were all two shots off the lead.
Alex Noren, who needs a top two finish and some help to overtake Stenson, was in the group at four under having played 15 holes, with fellow Race to Dubai contenders Danny Willett and Rory McIlroy and two and one under respectively.
The group at five under had been growing but Westwood got up and down on the first to make his par and then made an excellent two-putt from the fringe on the par five second for a birdie.
That handed him a two-shot lead but Garcia jumped out of the pack, taking advantage of the second and then hitting an excellent tee-shot into the par three fourth for a second gain of the day.
Molinari was playing in the group behind Garcia and he went the same route to six under, birdieing the second and fourth, where he was soon joined by Luiten.
The Dutchman had also birdied the second and when he rolled in a ten-footer on the fifth, he was just a shot off the lead.
If I'm within eight or nine shots going into the weekend I still feel like I have a decent chance - Rory McIlroy
Stenson had a quiet day on Thursday with one birdie and one bogey and while he only dropped one shot again in round two, he also made four gains.
The Swede birdied the third and fourth and after dropping that solitary stroke on the 12th, he picked up further strokes on the 15th and last.
McIlroy bounced back from his opening 75 with a 68 but he could not match playing partner Andy Sullivan who went ten shots better than Thursday, following a 76 with a 66 to get to two under.
Sullivan had a hat-trick of birdies from the second and while he dropped a shot on the seventh, birdies came on the 15th and 16th before he took advantage of the moved-up tee on the 18th for a closing eagle.
McIlroy birdied the second and bogeyed the fourth but made three gains in a row from the sixth before dropping a shot on the ninth. Further birdies came on the 14th and 18th and the Northern Irishman was left to wait and see how close he would be to the leaders heading into the weekend.
"I've played well here quite a few times in the past and yesterday was disappointing but I played a bit better today," he said. "We both played better today, had a good laugh out there and enjoyed it.
"I holed a few more putts today. Mentally, yesterday, I was still on holiday, I think. I just wasn't at the races. It felt a bit better out there today, I just wasn't quite with it yesterday.
"If I'm within eight or nine shots going into the weekend I still feel like I have a decent chance. If I'm too far back then I don't think I'll be able to make up that much ground but I feel that if I can keep improving each and every day, I might not be too far away at the end of the week."
"I'm absolutely buzzing with that," added Sullivan. " To get out early and shoot a number and try and get myself back in the golf tournament. I'm really happy with that."
Willett had completed 15 holes of his second round.
