American Rose Zhang surged to the top of the leaderboard with a seven-under-par 65 after fellow 20-year-old Atthaya Thitikul fired a course-record 62 at Kuala Lumpur Country Club to lay down a marker to the star-studded field.
Zhang leads at 18 under, with former world No.1 Thitikul and her Thai compatriot Jasmine Suwannupara (67) just one stroke behind heading into Sunday's final round.
Aussies Hannah Green and Grace Kim were unable to keep pace on a day of hot scoring and slipped down the leaderboard and out of contention at the $US3 million ($A4.7m) event.
Playing in the last group, Green could only manage an even-par 72 to stay at 10 under and tumble from third to 14th position.
Kim's round of 73, after dropping four shots in the first six holes, which included a disastrous triple-bogey seven, left her at six under and sharing 32nd spot with fellow Australian Sarah Kemp, who climbed the leaderboard with a 67.
But the day belonged to Zhang and Thitikul, two precocious talents who threatened to seize control of the tournament.
Five months after becoming the first player to win in her professional debut on the LPGA Tour since Beverly Hanson in 1951, Zhang collected her eighth birdie of the day on the last hole to snare the outright lead.
Thitikul, who remains the youngest golfer ever to win a professional tournament, the Ladies European Thailand Championship as an amateur at 14 years, four months and 19 days in 2017, was even more impressive.
The now-world No.13 - after reaching the top ranking last year as a teenager - racked up a remarkable 10 birdies during her unblemished round.
While the young guns upstaged Suwannupara, the halfway leader and 2020 British Open runner-up remains just one shot off the pace after offsetting her lone bogey at the ninth hole with six birdies.
South Korean Sei Young Kim (65) is outright fourth at 15 under, with France's season-long points leader Celine Boutier (69) at 13 under and New Zealand's former world No.1 Lydia Ko (65) at 12 under and rounding out the top 10.
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