Henrik Stenson turned in 34 to put the pressure on runaway overnight leader Dustin Johnson in the final round at the WGC-HSBC Champions.
Johnson entered the day with a six-shot lead as he looked to become the first player to win three World Golf Championships in the same season but two bogeys on the front nine dropped him to 15 under and gave the chasing pack some hope.
Swede Stenson was runner-up at Sheshan International Golf Club last season and he was the man to emerge as the nearest challenger with birdies on the sixth and seventh moving him to 12 under.
American duo Brooks Koepka and Peter Uihlein were then at ten under, a shot clear of England's Justin Rose and two ahead of Spaniard Rafa Cabrera Bello and American Brian Harman.
Any thoughts of a procession for Johnson were quickly forgotten as the World Number One got in bunker trouble to drop a shot on the first and then lost his ball off the second tee for a bogey-bogey start.
Rose was one of the players offered a glimmer of hope as he took advantage of the par five second and when he holed a lengthy double-breaker over the ridge on the third, he was alongside Koepka four shots back.
Rose missed the green and played a poor chip on the fourth but holed a good putt to save par, taking second place on his own after Koepka three-putted the third.
The 2013 US Open champion found a bunker off the tee on the sixth to drop back to ten under and he was soon joined by Cabrera Bello who added to a birdie at the second with a stunning approach to the seventh.
Stenson had started the day with five pars but a brilliant tee-shot into the sixth moved him to 11 under and he was soon joined by Rose who got up and down from a bunker on the short seventh.
Stenson did not attempt to drive the par four and set himself up for a smart approach that cut the lead to three shots.
Koepka left himself a flick in to the same hole to get back to ten under where he was joined by Rose who bogeyed the eighth after finding sand off the tee.
Cabrera Bello bogeyed the ninth and dropped to nine under alongside playing partner Uihlein who had holed a long putt to birdie the seventh.
A nice right-to-lefter on the tenth then moved Uihlein into double figures but Rose was heading in the opposite direction after finding the hazard on the ninth.
A bogey on the 11th then essentially ended Cabrera Bello's chances of victory.
Matthew Fitzpatrick, Paul Casey, Charles Howell III, Daisuke Kataoka and Hyunwoo Ryu were than at six under.
