Ewen Ferguson and Jordan Smith will share the lead heading into the final round of the Cazoo Open de France after going toe-to-toe on day three at Le Golf National.
Smith entered the day with a three-shot advantage and while he stretched that to four in the early stages, his momentum stalled and a bogey on the last saw him sign for a 70 and sit at 13 under.
That left him alongside playing partner Ferguson, who made five birdies and a single dropped shot in a 67, and the duo will battle it out again on Sunday.
Japan's Kazuki Higa was one shot back after a 65, one clear of German Yannik Paul who signed for a 67.
Both Smith and Ferguson will go in search of a third DP World Tour title on day four, the Scotsman looking for a hat-trick in just 18 months.
Ferguson won twice last season after graduating from the European Challenge Tour and has four top tens in 2023 since starting his season at the Hero Cup in January.
Smith won his first title in his rookie campaign in 2017 but had to wait five years for his second, lifting the trophy at last season's Portugal Masters as he finished a career-high 12th on the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex, just five places above Hero Cup team-mate Ferguson.
"If you'd given me a tie for the lead at the start of the week, I'd have bitten your hand off," said the Englishman. "I'm excited for tomorrow. It's going to be good fun and it's nice to be in that situation.
"I just didn't hit as many shots close and didn't hole as many putts today. It still felt good out there, I just had one bad hole and the putts just didn't drop but hopefully they will tomorrow."
Ferguson cut Smith's overnight advantage to two with a smart tee-shot to six feet on the second but the leader was soon four ahead as he got up and down on the par-five third and holed a 13-footer on the fifth.
He stumbled at the seventh after finding some very nasty stuff with his second and had to take a drop, surrendering a double-bogey that saw his lead cut to two and it was down to one on the next as Ferguson holed a lengthy putt.
Smith and Ferguson then both birdied the par-five ninth after getting up and down, with the leader holing a lengthy putt and Ferguson playing an excellent bunker shot.
The lead was back to two at the tenth thanks to a Smith pitch to three feet but Ferguson holed from 16 feet at the 11th before the duo moved back to the pack as they both three-putted the 12th.
Higa had made a fast start with an eagle from 12 feet at the third and he holed a 20-footer on the seventh and got up and down on the ninth to turn in 32.
Another birdie followed from beyond 15 feet at the next and when the 28-year-old played a beautiful bunker shot on the 14th, he was alongside Ferguson at 12 under.
But Ferguson did not stay there for long, holing a remarkable 67-foot left-to-righter on the 13th green to take a share of top spot.
Smith made a gain on the par-five 14th after missing a four-footer for eagle but a three-putt on the last dropped him back into a tie and handed Ferguson a share.
“Being in the position we were in, challenging for the lead, I think that brings a different kind of pressure," said Ferguson. "I knew my swing was in good shape.
“I always look [at leaderboards]. I’m looking to see who’s making a charge at us, who’s doing what and what I need to do. I’m always looking to see what I need to do to finish on top, same tomorrow and same today.
"I was just trying to hold on to Jordan all the way round, felt like I did that quite well and tomorrow, same again, hopefully I can heat the putter up and get them all dropping.”
Paul carded a bogey-free 67 with a two-putt gain on the third and lengthy putts of 30, 28 and 22 feet on the fourth, 11th and 14th.
Ryo Hisatsune signed for a 69 to sit at nine under, a shot clear of home favourite Julien Brun, Dane Rasmus Højgaard, South African Zander Lombard and England's Richard Mansell and two ahead of Austrian Lukas Nemecz and Spaniard Adrian Otaegui.
