Justin Rose turned in 32 in the final round of the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai to tighten his grip on the Race to Dubai title.
The Englishman entered the eighth Rolex Series event of the season at Jumeirah Golf Estates 256,737 points behind countryman Tommy Fleetwood after winning his last two starts and knowing he would be crowned Europe's Number One with a third victory in a row.
He hit the top of the projected Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex after day one in the desert but the pendulum had swung back to Fleetwood heading into the weekend before Rose opened up a one-shot lead on Saturday.
The 2013 US Open champion maintained that advantage over the front nine as he moved to 19 under, with Fleetwood five shots back having completed 11 holes.
Spaniard Sergio Garcia and South Africa's Dylan Frittelli were at 18 under, a shot clear of Shane Lowry who had just a single hole left to play.
All the focus may have been on Rose and Fleetwood but Garcia still had an outside chance of winning the Race to Dubai and he got off to a blistering start. Dialled-in iron play meant he had birdie putts of less than 15 feet on his first four holes and he made them all to get within one of the lead.
Fleetwood was out in the third-last group of the day and he made an early statement of intent, putting his approach to six feet on the first and making the putt to also sit just a shot behind Rose.
Frittelli capitalised on the par five second but Rose followed him in to move back into top spot on his own.
Garcia made a gain on the par five seventh to get within a shot of the lead and Frittelli holed a 15-footer on the third to join it before Rose again followed him in from four feet.
Fleetwood dropped a shot on the sixth and when Rose holed a 15-foot birdie putt on the fifth the gap between the Race to Dubai contenders was five shots.
Frittelli followed Rose in as the leading duo went shot-for-shot and Fleetwood quickly bounced back with a birdie on the seventh.
Garcia made another birdie on the ninth to turn in 30 but he was still not keeping pace with Rose who got up and down from the sand on the seventh, holing a 25-footer left-to-right down the hill to briefly lead by two.
It was very brief as Frittelli, who had put his approach to 15 feet, made his eagle putt and joined Rose at 19 under, two clear of the pack.
Garcia was not going away, however, and put his second into the 12th to six feet to join the charging Lowry at 17 under.
The Irishman had made a birdie-birdie start and after a bogey on the third added further gains on the fourth, seventh, eighth, tenth, 13th, 14th and 15th.
Frittelli then missed the green on the eighth and when he failed to get up and down, Rose had the lead on his own again.
Fleetwood made a second bogey of the day on the tenth to drop out of the top ten and it was looking increasingly likely that he would need someone to do him a favour if he was to beat Rose to the Race to Dubai.
A wonderful bunker shot from Garcia on the 15th then helped bring him an eighth birdie of the day and he was just a shot off the lead.
Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Dean Burmester, Tyrrell Hatton and Jon Rahm were at 16 under, two shots clear of Fleetwood, defending champion Matthew Fitzpatrick, Patrick Reed and Julian Suri.
