Byeong-hun An shot a seven-under-par 65 on day three of the HSBC Abu Dhabi Golf Championship to move into contention.
The South Korean did not drop a shot on his way round and was boosted further by replicating Rory McIlroy’s hole in one.
McIlroy registered his first ever one-shotter on Friday on the par-three 15th, and An did the same on Saturday.
With McIlroy third on the overnight leaderboard and still to tee off along with other pacestters Martin Kaymer and Thomas Pieters, the likes of An took the chance to make some early inroads.
England’s Oliver Wilson was with him, signing for a six-under 66 to sit eight under, a shot behind An and five behind outright leader Kaymer.
European Ryder Cup hero Jamie Donaldson’s four-under round left him alongside Wilson, while England’s Seve Benson and Andy Sullivan posted five-unders to climb the ladder.
McIlroy was due to tee off at 8.42am Irish time with England’s James Morrison.
McIlroy was joined on 11 under by Ryder Cup team-mate Victor Dubuisson who signed for an eight-under 64, while Kaymer started the day in stunning fashion.
The German birdied the first two holes to move out to 15 under, with Pieters tracking him on 13 under.
McIlroy got his round moving with a birdie on the sixth, but Kaymer was not flinching out in front and trimmed a shot himself on the fifth to move out to 16 under, with Pieters doing the same to stay two behind.
Kaymer's pace was relentless and through 10 he was five under for the day, putting him on 18 under for the tournament.
Pieters was dropped to three adrift as a result, with McIlroy six behind.
Bernd Wiesberger moved into third, five under for the day through 12.