Victor Dubuisson will go in hunt of a second Turkish Airlines Open title on Sunday, but the 2013 champion will have Race to Dubai leader Rory McIlroy breathing down his neck at the Montgomerie Maxx Royal.
The Frenchman had a brilliant finish to his third round with birdies on the 13th, 14th and 15th before a remarkable par save and another birdie on the closing two holes got him to 16 under alongside Jaco Van Zyl.
Van Zyl fired a sensational 61 on the opening day as he looks for a first European Tour title, but he ground out a 70 on Saturday as the chasing pack eventually managed to rein him in.
McIlroy joined Dubuisson in making a birdie at the last to sign for a third consecutive 67 and he heads into the final day a single shot off the lead alongside Kiradech Aphibarnrat.
Aphibarnrat, looking for his third win of the season after victories at the Shenzhen International and Saltire Energy Paul Lawrie Match Play, led on his own at one point but a bogey on the last saw him slip back to 15 under.
Byeong-hun An is two shots further shot back after firing a best-of-the-day 65 with Chris Wood also at 13 under.
Dubuisson has just two top tens this year and believes an improvement in his short game has been key to rediscovering his form this week.
Great performance. Made just two mistakes today but made some great putts on the back nine - Victor Dubuisson
"It's a course that I feel great on. Today, 13 was very good, as well as the first two days. This was really the key for going for a low score.
"My long game has been really, really good since the beginning of the year, but my short game was just really, really bad. I don't know, I changed my putter one month and a half ago."
Aphibarnrat opened with a birdie on the first and put his tee shot on the second to within two feet to quickly get into the group at 11 under.
Dubuisson produced a lovely chip to set up a birdie on the first but gave the shot straight back on the second while McIlroy dropped his first shot of the week on the third as he missed a mid-range par putt from off the green.
The leading group had all parred the first but Wood holed an 18-footer on the second to get within a shot of Van Zyl and Richard Bland joined him on the par three third as he put his tee shot inside four feet.
The par five fourth yielded two-putt birdies for both McIlroy and Dubuisson and the trio in the final group then all picked up shots there as well to maintain their advantage.
Aphibarnrat and McIlroy both hit wonderful approach shots into the sixth to pick up further birdies with the big Thai making a further gain on the seventh to get to 13 under.
Bland joined him there with a three-putt bogey on the fifth where Wood produced an impressive up and down after almost seeing his tee shot roll back into the water.
Dubuisson followed McIlroy and Aphibarnrat in getting very close on the sixth and picking up a birdie but Aphibarnrat was the hottest man out there, chipping in from just short of the green on the eighth to get within one of the lead.
Bland had not dropped a shot in his first 40 holes this week but he made it back-to-back bogeys on the sixth before getting one of those shots back on the seventh.
McIlroy and Dubuisson both dropped shots on the tenth, although the World Number Three got his straight back, but when Wood found the water on the ninth to fall another shot back, it looked like Van Zyl may keep the chasing pack at bay.
That was when McIlroy made his move, hitting a barely believable second shot to within three feet on the par five 13th to make an eagle and following it with a 25-foot putt for birdie at the next to get 14 under and within one of the lead.
Another man on the charge was An, who picked up four birdies in his last five holes to sign for an excellent 65 which contained nine birdies in total with two bogeys.
Aphibarnrat almost drove the green on the 15th and was able to convert that into a birdie to take a share of the lead where he was also joined by Dubuisson who made a hat-trick of gains from the 13th to make it a three-way tie.
It had taken nearly two days for anyone to catch Van Zyl and he moved out in front on his own again with a birdie on the 15th but, when he bogeyed the next with Aphibarnrat gaining on the 17th, he was off top spot.
The lead was short lived, however, as Aphibarnrat's poor finish dropped him back to 15 under with McIlroy joining him with a birdie.
Van Zyl then made just a third gain of the day on the 17th to get to 16 under and Dubuisson joined him with a closing birdie.
The South African admitted he never really got going at his best but was pleased to hold the lead for the third consecutive round as he looks for a wire-to-wire win.
It's an honour to be in this position. I'll go out there and see what the golfing gods have got in store - Jaco Van Zyl
"I played nicely the first nine holes, not too many mistakes. I had quite a few chances coming in on the back nine and let a couple slip through."
Bland had dropped out of contention with a double bogey on the 12th but he made a gain on the last to get back to 12 under alongside Lee Westwood and Peter Uihlein.
Julien Quesne and Rafael Cabrera-Bello were then two shots further back with Thongchai Jaidee, Shane Lowry, Danny Willett and Fabrizio Zanotti all at nine under.
