Paul Lawrie saw his lead cut to one shot in the early stages of the final round of the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.
The Scot is attempting to become the first man to win the Mother of Pearl Trophy three times after his triumphs in 1999 and 2012, and had made just two bogeys in the first three rounds at a notoriously windy Doha Golf Club.
But a dropped shot on the second dropped him back to 13 under, just one shot clear of defending champion Branden Grace, who was looking to become the first player to win back-to-back titles.
Rafa Cabrera-Bello and Thorbjørn Olesen were then at 11 under with Tommy Fleetwood, Lee Slattery and Andrew Johnston a further shot back.
Johnston birdied the first to close the gap but the leading group responded in style.
Lawrie chipped on to the first nicely to set up a tap-in birdie and Grace's approach got to within two feet as he also made a gain.
A birdie on the second got Cabrera-Bello to 11 under with Slattery moving a shot behind but an unfortunate lie off a wayward tee shot saw Lawrie drop a shot on the same hole and the lead was down to one.
Grégory Bourdy and Pelle Edberg were at nine under with Sergio Garcia, who picked up two shots in his first eight holes, a shot back.
