Aaron Rai restored his four-shot advantage as the third round of the Honma Hong Kong Open presented by Amundi neared its conclusion.
The Englishman began the day four strokes clear of nearest rival Hyowon Park after breaking the course record at Hong Kong Golf Club with a blemish-free 61 on Friday.
But Rai's lead had been reduced to a single shot by the time he reached the turn on Saturday, as South Korean Park carded four birdies and one bogey on his front nine to close the gap.
Three-time Challenge Tour winner Rai fired a birdie at the fourth before carding his first bogey of the week at the difficult ninth hole to remain at 14 under after nine holes.
He bounced straight back from that dropped shot with a birdie from tap-in range at the tenth before holing his 22-foot birdie putt at the 12th to get to 16 under.
And with Park dropping a shot at the 11th, Rai's lead was back to four strokes.
Matthew Fitzpatrick joined Park in a tie for second on 12 under courtesy of a birdie at the 12th before the South Korean made back-to-back bogeys at the 13th and 14th to slip back to ten under alongside Tommy Fleetwood.
After getting into tree trouble off the tee at the 14th, Rai made a brilliant par save from eight feet to keep hold of his four-shot lead with four holes left to play.
