Englishman Robert Rock has opened up a two-shot lead after round three of the BMW Italian Open in Turin.
The 34-year-old shot a four-under-par 68 for the second day running to improve to 16-under overall, two shots ahead of six players all tied for second, including home hope Francesco Molinari.
Rock picked up his first stroke of the day at the par-four second, continuing his perfect record of birdies at the hole during this tournament, but he soon slipped back to even-par thanks to a bogey at the par-third fourth. He got his round back on track with successive birdies at the eighth and ninth to make the turn two-under, and he added two more on the back nine, at the 12th and 13th, to remain at the top of the leaderboard heading into the final day.
Italian Molinari ensured he did not lose ground on the Englishman by shooting a four-under-par 68 for the second successive day, improving his score to 14-under through 54 holes. The 28-year-old made six birdies and two bogeys to ensure he ended the day level with Jbe Kruger (67), Gary Boyd (68) and Joost Luiten (69).
Also joining that group on 14-under are Niclas Fasth and Pablo Larrazabal. Swede Fasth scored the best round of the day with an eight-under-par-64 courtesy of seven birdies and an eagle at the par-five eighth, with a bogey at the 15th the only blot on his card. Spaniard Larrazabal, meanwhile, went one better with two eagles, at the fifth and 18th. He also made five birdies but two bogeys, at the fourth and 17th, prevented him from ending the day level with Rock at the summit.
Englishman Chris Wood’s challenge has progressively weakened. The 23-year-old held a share of the lead after day one, but he followed his second-round 69 with a one-under-par 71 as he slipped down the board to 12-under.
And any hopes Darren Clarke had of catching up with the pace-setters was ended by a five-over-par 75. The Northern Irishman shot four bogeys and just one birdie as he plummeted to four-under.
