Hideki Matsuyama re-established his three-shot lead midway through an action-packed third round of the WGC-HSBC Champions.
The Japanese started the day with that cushion but saw his lead cut to one as he made just a single birdie in his first eight holes, allowing the field to apply some pressure.
A birdie on the ninth then saw him turn in 34 and get to 15 under, three shots clear of playing partners Russell Knox and Bill Haas.
Francesco Molinari was then at 11 under alongside Daniel Berger, a shot clear of Rory McIlroy and Henrik Stenson.
Stenson made a huge move before the leaders had even teed off, birdieing his first four holes and then adding another on the sixth to get within four of Matsuyama.
Molinari also made a birdie-birdie start and while the players in the final group could not birdie the first, they all took advantage of the par five second - defending champion Knox and Matsuyama getting up and down and Haas two-putting.
Molinari's birdie on the first came via a lengthy putt and he made another on the third to get to 11 under, with Knox dropping a first shot of the day on the same hole.
The Scotsman bounced back when he almost made a hole-in-one on the fourth and Haas also made a gain to move into second place on his own.
McIlroy birdied the second but missed more birdie chances before rolling in a good putt from the fringe on the sixth.
Stenson three-putted the ninth to turn in 31 and Berger also moved to nine under with birdies on the fourth and sixth after bogeying the first.
Matsuyama had done very little wrong but the pack were beginning to close on him when Beger made a further birdie on the seventh and Haas played a brilliant tee-shot on the sixth to cut the gap to one.
McIlroy put his second shot a long way right on the eighth but produced one of the shots of the week from the trees as he bumped the ball off the bank and got to ten under
A Haas bogey on the eighth extended the lead to two shots and Knox joined him at 12 under with a birdie as Berger chipped in at the ninth to turn in 33.
A Matsuyama gain on the ninth then saw him back where he started the day, and Stenson broke a run of four pars with a birdie on the 14th.
Ross Fisher and Thomas Pieters were at eight under, a shot clear of Richard Bland, Shane Lowry, Paul Casey, Rickie Fowler and Xinjun Zhang.
