Andres Romero produced a brilliant comeback on day three at Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club to take a one shot lead into the final round of the Omega European Masters.
The Argentinian had produced the best round of his career in round two with a 61 but he was sliding down the leaderboard after a bogey and a double in the early stages on Moving Day.
Romero is made of stern stuff, however, and he dragged himself back to level par at the turn and then came home in 31 for a 66 and a 14 under par total.
Australian Wade Ormsby was his nearest challenger after a 67, with 2017 Race to Dubai Champion Tommy Fleetwood and Malaysia's Gavin Green at 12 under.
World Number Two Rory McIlroy was then a further shot back after a bogey-bogey finish in a 69, alongside South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Italian Lorenzo Gagli and Finn Kalle Samooja.
Italy's Renato Paratore was in the group at ten under after a 67 that included the 25th hole-in-one of the season.
Romero won his second European Tour title a decade after his first at the 2017 BMW International Open but has had just one top ten since - at this event two years ago - and currently sits 168th on the Race to Dubai.
"After a lot of pressure at the beginning I'm happy with the way I reacted," he said. "After the birdie on six I started feeling much better, with the birdies on eight and nine I was feeling okay. The eagle on 14 and birdie on 15 were the real difference.
"I really feel good this week, I have a lot of friends around and I like the golf course very much. I hope that tomorrow I will play on the same level that I did today."
McIlroy and Ormsby both dropped shots on the first but in the group behind Green and Romero had it even worse, both slipping to three over for the day after five holes, with Fleetwood dropping three shots in his first six.
An eight footer at the seventh saw McIlroy bounce straight back and while Ormsby's comeback took a little longer, it was spectacular as he put his second at the sixth in very close and then chipped in at the next for an eagle.
McIlroy picked up a shot of his own on the driveable seventh and holed a 15 footer at the tenth to join Ormsby at 12 under, and when both men birdied the 12th they were two clear of the nearest challengers.
A 415 yard drive on the par five 14th looked set to hand McIlroy at least a birdie but the Northern Irishman found the water with his second and dropped a shot, as Ormsby made a gain with two putts to lead by two.
In the final group, Romero had fought back to par on the day with birdies on the sixth, eighth and ninth but he was still well back when he dropped a shot on the 11th.
A brilliant tee shot on the 13th set in motion a stunning run of scoring, and he holed a long putt on the 14th for eagle before making a two putt birdie on the next and holing from 12 feet on the 16th to join the lead.
Ormsby then three putted the last to leave Romero out in front on his own and McIlroy failed to get up and down on the 17th and then found water on his final hole.
Englishman Fleetwood had dropped shots on the second, third and sixth but an approach to three feet on the ninth turned around his fortunes. He holed from 12 feet on the 12th and, after taking advantage of the back to back par fives, a 15 footer on the 17th had him right back in it after a 68.
Green eagled the 14th after an excellent second to add to birdies on the ninth and 11th as he too recovered from a slow start in his 69.
Samooja's 62 was the best round of his European Tour career, while Bezuidenhout carded a 65 and Gagli signed for a 67.
Paratore's ace came via a 183 yard pitching wedge on the 13th and helped him sit alongside 2005 champion Sergio Garcia, Austrian Matthias Schwab and Swede Sebastian Soderberg.
