Laurie Canter and Ross McGowan shared a three-shot lead heading into the final round of the Italian Open as the English pair went in search of potentially career-changing victories in Brescia.
Jonny Caldwell is the best of the Irish after a third round of 68 left him at 13 under par in a tie for eighth. Cormac Sharvin’s 69 leaves him at nine under par and tied for 33rd.
Canter set the pace at Chervo Golf Club with an opening 60 and a third-round 69 kept him at the summit, but he had McGowan for company at 19 under after the 38-year-old carded a 67.
McGowan claimed his first and so far only European Tour win 11 years ago during a run of form that saw him almost make Colin Montgomerie’s Ryder Cup team at Celtic Manor.
Since then he has bounced between the European and Challenge Tours but after an eagle, six birdies and three bogeys in round three, he has a chance to once again establish himself on the top circuit.
“A win would probably change the outlook for the rest of the year, next year and hopefully for the next few years after that,” he told europeantour.com. “I’m not getting any younger so it would be quite handy to win one nice and early.”
Canter claimed a first European Tour top 10 in August after 78 events across nine seasons, and finished with three birdies in round three as he seeks a maiden victory.
“I definitely feel confident I can go out and stick to what I’m doing,” he said. “I don’t know if that will be good enough.
“I have a feeling tomorrow a few people a couple of shots back will pull the anchor up and go for it and somebody’s going to go low tomorrow, so Ross and I and those around us will have to keep going forward to be up there.”
South African Dean Burmester was at 16 under, a shot ahead of 2012 Ryder Cup hero Nicolas Colsaerts and German Sebastian Heisele.
Spaniard Adri Arnaus and Finn Tapio Pulkkanen were five shots off the lead, a shot ahead of a group containing two-time major champion Martin Kaymer, defending champion Bernd Wiesberger and Caldwell.
Collated third round scores & totals in the European Tour Italian Open, Chervo Golf Club, San Vigilio di Pozzolengo, Brescia, Italy (British unless stated, par 72):
197 Laurie Canter 60 68 69, Ross McGowan 66 64 67
200 Dean Burmester (Rsa) 64 68 68
201 Sebastian Heisele (Ger) 68 67 66, Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 68 67 66
202 Adri Arnaus (Spa) 65 70 67, Tapio Pulkkanen (Fin) 67 68 67
203 Darius Van Driel (Ned) 71 64 68, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 69 66 68, Jonathan Caldwell (NIrl) 67 68 68, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 67 68 68, Louis De Jager (Rsa) 68 68 67
204 Wil Besseling (Ned) 65 71 68, Joost Luiten (Ned) 70 66 68, Adrian Meronk (Pol) 67 71 66, Emilio Cuartero Blanco (Spa) 68 68 68, Julien Quesne (Fra) 66 71 67
205 Richard Bland 65 70 70, Jens Fahrbring (Swe) 70 67 68, Joel Sjoholm (Swe) 68 70 67, Matthieu Pavon (Fra) 70 65 70, Jamie Donaldson 68 69 68, Nicolai Hojgaard (Den) 67 67 71, Chris Paisley 69 67 69, Steven Tiley 68 71 66
206 Marcus Armitage 67 70 69, Yi-Keun Chang (Kor) 70 66 70, Kristoffer Reitan (Nor) 66 70 70, Bryce Easton (Rsa) 68 69 69, Oscar Lengden (Swe) 65 71 70, Hurly Long (Ger) 69 69 68, Adrian Otaegui (Spa) 67 67 72
207 Cormac Sharvin (NIrl) 69 69 69, Damien Perrier (Fra) 65 71 71, Toby Tree 68 69 70, Jorge Campillo (Spa) 68 71 68, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa) 68 69 70, Francesco Laporta (Ita) 68 70 69, Joachim B. Hansen (Den) 64 69 74, Antoine Rozner (Fra) 68 71 68, Marcel Schneider (Ger) 69 70 68
208 Matt Wallace 68 68 72, Maverick Antcliff (Aus) 70 67 71, Federico Maccario (Ita) 70 70 68, Aaron Cockerill (Can) 67 72 69, Scott Jamieson 68 69 71, Lee Westwood 72 67 69
209 Joel Stalter (Fra) 73 66 70, Marc Warren 69 68 72, Dale Whitnell 68 70 71, Gaganjeet Bhullar (Ind) 68 69 72, Matthias Schwab (Aut) 72 68 69
210 Robin Roussel (Fra) 66 68 76, Matthew Jordan 66 72 72, Niklas Lemke (Swe) 66 71 73, David Horsey 69 67 74, Guido Migliozzi (Ita) 68 69 73, Daniel Young 68 70 72
211 Johannes Veerman (USA) 70 70 71, Lorenzo Gagli (Ita) 70 69 72, Lars Van Meijel (Ned) 70 69 72
212 Nicolai Von Dellingshausen (Ger) 69 68 75, Eduardo De La Riva (Spa) 68 72 72, Jack Senior 66 72 74
213 Lorenzo Scalise (Ita) 67 69 77
214 Dave Coupland 69 67 78, Renato Paratore (Ita) 71 69 74
