Dustin Johnson saw his lead cut to four shots after a shaky start to his final round at the WGC-HSBC Champions.
The World Number One is aiming to become the first player to win three World Golf Championships in the same season and extend his overall tally to six, the first of which came here at Sheshan International Golf Club in 2013.
He entered the final day with a six-shot lead but two bogeys in his first four holes dropped him to 15 under and gave the chasing pack some hope.
That was led by England's Justin Rose who picked up two shots in his first four holes to sit a shot ahead of Swede Henrik Stenson.
Spaniard Rafa Cabrera Bello and American duo Brooks Koepka and Kyle Stanley were than at nine under.
Any thoughts of a procession for Johnson were quickly forgotten as the American got in bunker trouble to drop a shot on the first and then lost his ball off the second tee for a bogey-bogey start.
Rose was one of the players offered a glimmer of hope as he took advantage of the par five second and when he holed a lengthy double-breaker over the ridge on the third, he was alongside Koepka four shots back.
Playing partner Stanley bogeyed the first but he picked up an eagle on the second after holing a bunker shot to get to nine under alongside Cabrera Bello who birdied the par five.
Rose missed the green and played a poor chip on the fourth but holed a good putt to save par, taking second place on his own after Koepka three-putted the third.
Koepka then bogeyed the fourth after finding sand off the tee while Stenson began his final round with four pars.
Peter Uihlein and Brian Harman were then at eight under, two shots clear of Tyrrell Hatton, Bernd Wiesberger and Charles Howell III.
