Henrik Stenson recovered from the embarrassment of a complete air shot with the aid of an outrageous stroke of luck to stay in touch in the Nedbank Golf Challenge at Sun City.
Australian Marc Leishman finished with two birdies in an outstanding 66 to open a one shot lead over the Swede with just Sunday's final round to play.
Shane Lowry hit his best round of the weekend, a two-under-par 70 that left him in outright 23rd place.
Stenson had already seen his one-shot overnight lead wiped out by playing partner Jaco Van Zyl's opening birdie when he attempted a delicate flop shot from just off the second green, only for his club to slide straight under the ball for a swing and a miss.
The world number seven was more successful with his second attempt, chipping to five feet and holing for par.
Stenson could easily have bogeyed the ninth as well, his second shot to the par five clearing the water surrounding the green by a matter of inches and somehow coming to rest between the edge of the green and rocks defining the hazard.
From there the 39-year-old could only chip on to 20 feet and looked to have left his birdie attempt just short, but after a brief pause the ball dropped into the cup for an unlikely four.
Even after an air shot, Stenson still manages to save par. #NGC2015 https://t.co/vvF3XVw4aL
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) December 5, 2015
Leishman is on 14 under par after overnight leader Stenson carded a disappointing 70 following two dropped shots on his final three holes in sweltering conditions.
"It was fun, I was driving the ball really well there on the back nine and managed to roll in some putts. It was a good day," Leishman said.
"I missed a short one on 11 which was really disappointed but then birdied the par five (14th hole) and then 17 and 18, which are generally two pretty tough holes to finish.
"It's made it interesting for Sunday and hopefully I can play the way I did today and give Henrik a run for his money. I generally play pretty well in the heat."
In temperatures which at times exceeded 40 degrees Celsius in South Africa's North West province, home player Van Zyl stayed in touch with the leaders as he carded a level-par 72 for a 10 under-par total.
That is one shot ahead of American Robert Streb, also even par for the round and alone in fourth position.
Leishman, yet to win on the European Tour, landed an eagle on the par-five 10th hole to go with five birdies and a single dropped shot.
The 32-year-old's bogey on the 11th was only the second time he had dropped a shot in the tournament after a pair of 68s in his opening two rounds of 'Africa's Major'.
He spent three days earlier in the week in bed sick and only gave himself a slight chance of playing in the tournament, but has since recovered well.
