Martin Kaymer turned in 35 to maintain his one-shot lead on day three of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship but Dustin Johnson fired a brilliant 64 to put himself right in contention in the UAE.
Kaymer is seeking a fourth title at Abu Dhabi Golf Club and recovered from an early dropped shot to get to 13 under but it was US Open champion Johnson who stole the show early on Saturday.
After struggling with jet-lag in the early part of the week, the American opened with rounds of 72-68 but made six birdies and an eagle to catapult himself to within one shot of the lead.
South Korea's Byeong-hun An, Irishman Paul Dunne and Swede Peter Hanson were then at 11 under.
Johnson made an early move with birdies on the first, third and sixth and a chip-in eagle on the eighth before reeling off six straight pars.
Once the leading groups got under way, 2014 champion Pablo Larrazábal showed he meant business by holing a bunker shot on the first but countryman Rafa Cabrera Bello endured a rough start as he looked to be struggling with a back injury.
The Ryder Cup star bogeyed the first and second to go from being nearest challenger to three behind Kaymer at nine under.
It was Kiradech Aphibarnrat who then took his place as Kaymer's nearest rival, putting his tee-shot to ten feet on the par three fourth and making his birdie to get to 11 under.
An was also making his move and he turned in 32 thanks to birdies on the third, fourth, eighth and ninth, while Johnson broke his run of pars by putting his tee-shot close on the tough par three 15th.
Kaymer then made his first mistake of the day as he put his tee-shot on the fourth into the sand and failed to get up and down.
Johnson made it back-to-back birdies on the 16th to join the lead but Kaymer hit straight back, holing a curling 25-footer on the fifth to get back to level par for the day.
Cabrera Bello also holed a tidy putt to get back within two of the lead but Johnson was the hottest man on the course, making it three in a row to once again hit the summit.
An made a fifth birdie of the day on the 11th to join Aphibarnrat one off the lead but that was soon two back when Kaymer got to 13 under on the eighth. His second shot on the par five found the bunker but he splashed out to 15 feet and rolled home the putt to reclaim the solo lead.
A bogey on the ninth dropped Aphibarnrat to ten under alongside Cabrera Bello, Larrazábal, Dean Burmester, Tommy Fleetwood, Maximilian Kieffer and Bernd Wiesberger.
Dunne made eight straight pars before a birdie on the ninth saw him turn in 35, while Hanson had birdies on the fifth, seventh, tenth and 12th.
