Aaron Rai saw his lead cut to a single shot by a charging Matthew Fitzpatrick as the final round of the Honma Hong Kong Open presented by Amundi neared its conclusion.
Englishman Rai came into the final round with a six-shot advantage but he was reined in by countryman Fitzpatrick after he fired seven birdies and no bogeys in his first 16 holes to get to 17 under par.
Rai, meanwhile, was one stroke better off on 18 under after mixing four birdies with two bogeys as the rain poured down at Hong Kong Golf Club.
Five-time European Tour winner Fitzpatrick opened his round with back-to-back birdies before notching another from 20 feet at the short eighth to pile the pressure on Rai, who carded two birdies and two bogeys on his front nine.
After sending his approach to eight feet at the tenth, Fitzpatrick rolled in for another birdie to reduce Rai's lead to two strokes.
Rai rallied, rattling in his 15-foot birdie putt at the 12th before repeating the trick at the long 13th from around three feet to jump to 18 under.
But Fitzpatrick was hot on his heels, picking up shots at the 13th and 14th before draining his 20-foot putt at the 16th to close the gap to one.
Challenge Tour graduate Victor Perez and Australian Jason Scrivener were six shots further behind Fitzpatrick on 11 under as they made their way down the stretch.
