Dustin Johnson remained the man to catch midway through the final round of the Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers.
The World Number One started the day with a two shot lead over France's Victor Perez, but saw that advantage halved by the time they had reached the turn at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club.
American Johnson birdied the long fourth but otherwise notched up the pars as he went into the back nine on 14 under.
Perez made birdies at the second and ninth to be only one back, with Ryan Fox and Tony Finau still in contention on 12 under.
Calum Hill, Søren Kjeldsen, Kevin Na and Justin Rose were tied for fifth on 11 under but were fast running out of holes if they were to mount a late title bid.
