Thongchai Jaidee will take a one shot lead into the final round of the BMW Masters thanks to a 66 on a day of low scoring at Lake Malaren Golf Club.
The Thai had begun the day three shots behind overnight leader Lucas Bjerregaard but had a share of the lead at the turn and two birdies on the back nine allowed him to move to 15 under, clear of Bjerregaard, Byeong-hun An and Sergio Garcia.
A win here in Shanghai would not only hand Jaidee a second European Tour win of the season and eighth of his career but would also see him make a huge leap in The Race to Dubai.
With leader Rory McIlroy absent this week, the chasing pack have the opportunity to close in on and even overtake the Northern Irishman before the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.
But closest rival Danny Willett is ten shots off the lead after a 70 on Saturday while Justin Rose is the closest challenger who can replace McIlroy at ten under.
Jaidee, meanwhile, could get as high as third if he is top of the leaderboard at the end of play on Sunday.
"Tomorrow is a very big day," he said
If I play well like this and keep performing like this, I have a good chance. But golf, you never know what you're feeling tomorrow for the 72 holes - Thongchai Jaidee
"My iron play, I think that's the key, and putting. Tomorrow I'm going to play my own game."
He added: "I played well, we hit a lot of greens. I think today we putted well.
"I think my game plan this week is good. I've hit irons well, I'm working on putting and that's what gave me very good confidence for today.
"Six under is a very good score."
Thomas Pieters was the big early mover in the third round as the two-time winner this season opened with four straight birdies and then made another gain on the seventh to turn in 31 and get to seven under.
That was still five back of Bjerregaard's overnight lead and the 24 year old rolled in a 15-footer on the second to get to 13 under but Jaidee kept the lead at three shots as he followed him in.
An also moved to ten under with birdies on the first and third but Jaidee birdied the third and when he put his tee shot on the fourth inside five feet, the lead was down to one.
Garcia had parred his first four holes but a 25-foot putt on the fifth got him to ten under.
Jaidee had parred the tricky fifth but put his tee shot on the sixth to within a foot and tapped in to share the lead at 13 under as players began to bunch behind.
A fifth gain of the day on the eighth moved Jaidee out in front on his own but Bjerregaard is made of stern stuff and he made a gain on the ninth to get back into a share of top spot at the turn, with Garcia moving to 11 under before giving the stroke back on the tenth.
A bogey on the tenth had stalled Pieters' momentum but birdies on the 11th, 12th, 15th, 16th and 18th saw him sign for a brilliant 63 and set the clubhouse target at 11 under.
An made a trio of birdies from the 11th to get to 13 under but the leading duo were keeping their noses in front and fighting their personal battle as Jaidee moved ahead again at the 12th before Bjerregaard hit back on the 13th.
Another Jaidee birdie followed on the 14th but he could not pull away from the pack as the low scoring below him continued with Kristoffer Broberg carding a 64 to sit at 13 under.
The Swede had parred the first six holes but after an eagle on the seventh, he birdied seven of his next nine to fly up the leaderboard before dropping a shot on the 17th.
That had him in the group at 13 under which included An until the Korean BMW PGA Championship winner birdied the 15th to get within two of the lead where he was soon joined by Bjerregaard who dropped a stroke on the 16th.
Garcia then joined the group at 14 under as he made four birdies in five holes from the 13th with Jaidee dropping a shot on the last after leaving his approach short.
Broberg was in fifth place on his own with five Ryder Cup stars making up the group at 12 under.
Hnerik Stenson, the 2013 Race to Dubai champion, registered seven birdies in an unblemished 65 while American Patrick Reed went one better with an eight-birdie 64.
Ross Fisher produced a sublime chip-in on the 17th to sign for a 67 while countryman Ian Poulter had just a bogey on the last spoiling his third consecutive 68.
A third Englishman, Paul Casey, completed the group three behind the leader with seven birdies and three bogeys in his effort.
Pieters was then at 11 under alongside Marcus Fraser who fired a remarkable, record-breaking back nine.
The Australian was level at the turn but birdied the tenth, 11th, 13th, 14th and 15th before putting his second shot directly into the cup on the 18th to record the first 29 on either side of the course in BMW Masters history.
Rose was a shot further back along with Matthew Fitzpatrick, who is aiming for a tenth top ten finish of the season, and Turkish Airlines Open champion Victor Dubuisson.
