Maarten Lafeber will take a one-shot lead into the final round of the BMW Asian Open in Taiwan, but Padraig Harrington will be hoping to ensure the Dutchman's search for a maiden tour title fails again.
The 28-year-old former Dutch, Swiss and Spanish amateur champion saw his overnight four-shot lead cut to the slenderest possible margin despite a sturdy third round of 71 on a breezy day at the Ta Shee course.
Lafeber had raced clear at the top of the leaderboard with a pair of 66s over the opening two days but his blistering start bore all the hallmarks of his performances in France and Spain in recent weeks.
Then, at the Lancome Trophy and Madrid Open, he had opened both times with two 65s but then faded badly during the final two rounds.
On this occasion, however, Lafeber looked to be feeding off the experience gained during those weeks, with early birdies at the second and third indicating he was not about to succumb so easily in this, the first event of the 2003 European Tour.
A further birdie at the 11th balanced a dropped shot at the ninth but Lafeber, who once sold shares in himself to support his endeavours on the tour, finished disappointingly with a bogey on the 17th.
And he will know his job is far from done, especially given that Ryder Cup star Harrington is just behind on 12 under after a third round of 68.
The Dubliner scraped around but scored well, firing six birdies and two dropped shots and he, along with young South African Trevor Immelman, who returned a 68, represent the biggest threat to Lafeber tomorrow.
American Andrew Pitts recorded an impressive, bogey-free third round of 69 to lie fourth on 206, 10 under, and two shots further behind is Welshman Ian Woosnam, who fired a four-under-par round of 68 for a three-round total of 208.
John Daly, playing on in the tournament despite the death of his mother on Thursday, posted a two-under round of 70 to move to two under for the tournament.