Fitzpatrick leads by 1 at windy Italian Open

Even the wind couldn’t thwart U.S. Open champion

Matt Fitzpatrick at the Italian Open at Guidonia Montecelio, Italy.

Fitzpatrick will head into the final round in the lead and aiming to go one better than three years ago after coping with challenging conditions on Saturday to post an impressive 2-under 69 and edge clear of Rory McIlroy and Aaron Rai.

Fitzpatrick, who claimed his first major title in June at Brookline, is playing the Italian Open for the seventh time. He finished second in 2019.

“It would mean the world [to win],” Fitzpatrick said. “I love coming to play the Italian Open. I love the country. I love playing golf here. The fans are fantastic and to win tomorrow, yeah, would be a great feeling.”

He takes a one-shot lead into the final round at Marco Simone club outside Rome after three birdies in the back nine saw him move to 10-under 203.

Halfway leader McIlroy started the day a shot ahead of Ryder Cup teammate Fitzpatrick but struggled in the wind and hit three bogeys. However, he salvaged his round — and possibly his tournament — by also ending with a birdie, his third of the day.

Elsewhere: Matthew McClean won the raindelayed U.S. Mid-Amateur at Rin, Wisconsin, building a 5-up lead and holding off close friend Hugh Foley in an all-Irish final at Erin Hills. The 36-hole championship match was split over two days because of rain earlier in the week. McClean was 2 up after 18 holes on Friday evening, and then took advantage of Foley’s bogeys to build a big lead.

AETC.

Tennis: Botic van de Zandschulp and Tallon Griekspoor won their singles against Americans Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul for the Netherlands to finish top of their Davis

Cup Finals group with a 2-1 win at Glasgow, Scotland. Van de Zandschulp settled the tie when he defeated Fritz, the world No. 12, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) after Griekspoor opened with a 7-5, 7-6 7-(3) victory over Paul.

The United States and Netherlands were already assured of reaching the quarterfinals with two wins each in Group D.

Soccer: Robert Lewandowski shook off his disappointing return to Bayern Munich by scoring twice to lead Barcelona to a 4-0 victory at home over 10-man Elche in the Spanish league. They were Lewandowski’s seventh and eighth goals in a fiveround scoring streak and took his overall tally to 11 in eight games since he transferred to Barcelona from Bayern this summer. ... Augsburg stunned defending champion Bayern Munich in their Bavarian derby 1-0 in the Bundesliga, and Borussia Dortmund’s 1-0 Ruhr derby win over Schalke was overshadowed by a serious-looking injury to captain Marco Reus.

Reus was taken off on a stretcher in tears after sustaining what looks like a bad ankle injury two months before the World Cup begins in Qatar.

NBA: A jersey worn by Michael Jordan in Game 1 of the 1998 NBA Finals against the Utah Jazz sold Thursday for $10.1 million via Sotheby’s auction house. After selling for more than double Sotheby’s initial estimations, the “Last Dance” jersey is the most expensive piece of game-worn sports memorabilia ever auctioned.

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