Sergio Garcia made a flying start against Rickie Fowler as the third round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship began in Arizona.
The Spaniard claimed the first two holes against his American opponent, who reduced his deficit on the third, but Graeme McDowell had to come from behind for the third day in succession.
McDowell reached the third round at Dove Mountain thanks to superb fightbacks against Gary Woodland and Hideki Matsuyama, most notably recovering from three down with three to play to beat Woodland on the 19th.
The former US Open Champion was also two down with four to play against Matsuyama before winning on the 18th, meaning the only time he has been in front in both matches has been at the end of the game.
It was perhaps no surprise that the Northern Irishman lost the first two holes against former Ryder Cup foe Hunter Mahan, the man he beat in the final singles match at The Celtic Manor Resort in 2010 to secure overall victory for Europe.
In contrast, Victor Dubuisson was the only remaining player never to have been behind this week and the Frenchman continued his excellent form by taking the first two holes against former Masters Tournament winner Bubba Watson, who won the Northern Trust Open last week.
Harris English - conqueror of Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy - was two up on Jim Furyk after five.
A bogey on the third and par on the fifth was enough to get McDowell back on level terms and he looked like enjoying the novel experience of actually taking the lead on the sixth.
McDowell's tee shot to the par three pulled up just inches away from the hole and was duly conceded, but Mahan also produced an excellent approach and holed from 10 feet to remain all square.
Garcia had also won the fifth to restore his two hole lead on Fowler, but had a less pleasurable experience on the sixth, requiring a drop away from a colony of bees on the edge of the green.
"I don't want to hit the shot, I've had bad experiences with bees," Garcia was heard to say to the rules official overseeing his drop.
The good news for the Spaniard was that he got up and down for par and saw Fowler miss his short birdie putt.
Garcia reportedly felt so bad about taking too long over his drop on the sixth that he conceded Fowler a long par putt on the next, but moved three up with a birdie on the eighth.
However, Fowler hit back with birdies of his own on the ninth and tenth - Garcia missed from short range on the tenth - to get back to just one down with eight to play.
English had also seen a three hole lead reduced to one by Furyk, while Jordan Spieth was one up on defending champion Matt Kuchar after six and Louis Oosthuizen led Webb Simpson by the same margin after seven.
Jason Day was two up on George Coetzee after six, while Ernie Els and Jason Dufner were level at the same stage.
McDowell missed several good chances to claim the lead around the turn and Mahan eventually made him pay with a birdie on the 11th, getting up and down from a greenside bunker on the par five.
Fowler was also left to rue a missed birdie putt from four feet on the 13th as he remained one down to Garcia, while Furyk had turned his match with English on its head, recovering from three down to lead by one hole with four to play.
