Halfway leader Li Haotong was looking over his shoulder early in his third round at the 2020 US PGA Championship as a stellar chasing pack closed the gap on him to a single shot.
The 25-year-old began the day with a two shot lead and opened up with three straight pars on Saturday to remain on eight under par.
Brooks Koepka, who is bidding to win a historic third consecutive US PGA title this week, was in the five strong group a solitary shot behind Li alongside fellow Major Champions Dustin Johnson and Jason Day and Americans Scottie Scheffler and Daniel Berger.
Although China's Li had seen his advantage cut to one shot, he can take plenty of positives from the way he started on day three as he followed up solid tee and approach shots with confident putts.
Playing in the final group alongside Tommy Fleetwood, Li still held a two shot lead when he began his third round but the chasing pack had swelled significantly, with ten players in a share for second on six under as the pair reached the first tee.
Day, who won this tournament in 2015, played a wonderful approach shot to tap-in range for a birdie at the first to grab outright second place, before Johnson continued his hot start with a birdie on the fifth to join Day on seven under shortly after.
Scheffler also got to seven under after holing his bunker shot at the eighth, while Li had to settle for back to back pars at the first and second after leaving his lengthy birdie efforts short.
US PGA debutant Scheffler had a golden opportunity to join Li at the summit but his birdie effort from around 20 feet on the ninth narrowly evaded the hole.
Joel Dahmen briefly joined the group on seven under with a brilliant eagle at the long tenth before giving a shot back on the 11th, while two time defending champion Koepka became the fifth man to close to within one of Li with a close range birdie on the fourth.
Li made his third successive par at the short third after narrowly missing his 50 foot birdie putt, but held on to his slender advantage.
