Fitzpatrick maintains slim advantage at Italian Open

ROME: Matthew Fitzpatrick birdied four of his final six holes on Saturday to hold onto a one-shot lead at the Italian Open heading into the final round.

The Englishman’s strong finish was enough for a three-under-par third round of 68 which took him to 13 under for the tournament.

“To finish the way I did, was great,” said Fitzpatrick, who is looking to win for the fifth straight year on the European Tour.

“To put myself one in front going into that gives me a little bit of help... I’m just looking forward and ready to go already.”

American Kurt Kitayama powered up the leaderboard into second place with a 65, while Scot Robert MacIntyre continued his impressive debut season on the European Tour by firing a 64 to move within two strokes of the lead.

The 23-year-old MacIntyre, who has broken into the world’s top 100 and finished tied-sixth in July’s British Open, is projected to leap to seventh in the season-long Race to Dubai standings.

“I’m not really looking at the world ranking now,” he said.

“Just trying to run up that as fast as I can, to end the season really high. Obviously, Race to Dubai, if I get into position coming into the last three [events], you go for gold, don’t you.”

World No.31 Fitzpatrick started the round with a one-shot lead but looked in danger of slipping adrift after 10 holes in Rome. Instead, he remains in control as he bids for a sixth European Tour title.

Matt Wallace and Bernd Wiesberger remain in contention, just three shots behind on 10 under.

LEADING THIRD ROUND SCORES

(GBR/IRL unless stated, par 71)

200 — Matthew Fitzpatrick 67-65-68

201 — Kurt Kitayama (USA) 66-70-65

202 — Robert MacIntyre 69-69-64

203 — Matt Wallace 69-67-67, Bernd Wiesberger (AUT) 66-70-67

204 — Soren Kjeldsen (DEN) 68-70-66