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Italian Open 2019: Matthew Fitzpatrick holds narrow lead into final round

By Matt Coles

ROME, ITALY - OCTOBER 12: Matthew Fitzpatrick of England putts on 18th green during Day Three of the Italian Open at Olgiata Golf Club on October 12, 2019 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Tullio M. Puglia/Getty Images)
ROME, ITALY - OCTOBER 12: Matthew Fitzpatrick of England putts on 18th green during Day Three of the Italian Open at Olgiata Golf Club on October 12, 2019 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Tullio M. Puglia/Getty Images) /
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England’s Matthew Fitzpatrick continues to lead the Italian Open, as he carded a third round 68 to maintain a one-shot lead at the top of the leaderboard.

Matthew Fitzpatrick started the day at -10, and was in the final group with Denmark’s Joachim Hansen at the 2019 Italian Open. The pair had differing days, though, with the Englishman continuing to lead after 54 holes.

He carded a three-under-par 68 at Olgiata, thanks to a run of four birdies in five holes on his back nine, and he now sits at -13 with a round to play. Hansen, on the other hand, shot a three-over-par round of 74, and dropped down the leaderboard to list at -6.

Instead, it is Kurt Kitayama who now sits a shot behind Fitzpatrick, after the American carded a bogey-free 65 to move to -12. Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre is in solo third, a further shot back, after he posted the joint-low round of the day. The Scot carded a bogey-free 64 to move to -11 with 18 to play.

Bernd Wiesberger and Matt Wallace are in a tie for 4th place, with the pair both carding 67s on the third day to make their moves up the leaderboard. They will start the final day three shots back at Olgiata.

Taking over from Hansen as the leading Dane in the field is Soren Kjeldsen, who had a run of five straight birdies on the front nine, before this on the par-4 11th hole.

He sits at -9 with a round to go, four back. A further shot back from him sit a trio of men, including the English pair of Aaron Rai and Andrew Johnston. Jeunghun Wang is the other man in that group, with the Korean also carding a 64, like MacIntyre, on Saturday afternoon.

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Graeme McDowell and Erik van Rooyen are alongside the leading Italian, Andrea Pavan, after three rounds. The trio are currently at -7, six shots back from the lead, in a tie for 10th.

BMW PGA Champion Danny Willett is among those at -6, along with Hansen, while first round leader Tapio Pulkkanen shot a second straight round of 72 to drop back to -5, alongside Tyrrell Hatton and Ross Fisher among others.

The wait for a Slovakian European Tour winner will go on, as Rory Sabbatini carded a four-over-par round of 75 on day three, and he now sits ten shots off the lead. Meanwhile, the battle for the leading Spaniard is heating up nicely.

Adri Arnaus, Adrian Otaegui and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano are all at -2 after three days in Italy, while Nacho Elvira is among those at +1, three shots behind his compatriots.

50 men are in the red numbers with 18 to play, including Edoardo Molinari, Alex Noren and George Coetzee, who are all at -1. One of the men sitting on level par after Saturday’s action is World No.5 Justin Rose.

The Englishman had a dreadful day at Olgiata, as he went birdie-free, carding a seven-over-par round of 78 to fall back into the group in a tie for 51st. It was not the worst round of the day, though, as Belgium’s Thomas Pieters carded a 79 to drop to +8, and last place.

He will be first out in the morning, teeing off at 07:28 local (GMT+2), while Kitayama and leader Fitzpatrick will start their final rounds at 12:50.

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Leaderboard:

1 (-13): Matthew Fitzpatrick (ENG)

2 (-12): Kurt Kitayama (USA)

3 (-11): Robert MacIntyre (SCO)

T4 (-10): Bernd Wiesberger (AUT), Matt Wallace (ENG)

6 (-9): Soren Kjeldsen (DEN)

T7 (-8): Andrew Johnston (ENG), Aaron Rai (ENG), Jeunghun Wang (KOR)

T10 (-7): Graeme McDowell (NIR), Erik van Rooyen (RSA), Andrea Pavan (ITA)

Selected Others:

T13 (-6): Joachim Hansen (DEN), Danny Willett (ENG)

T18 (-5): Tapio Pulkkanen (FIN), Tyrrell Hatton (ENG)

T23 (-4): Joost Luiten (NED), Mike Lorenzo-Vera (FRA)

T28 (-3): Rory Sabbatini (SVK), Thongchai Jaidee (THA), Ryan Fox (NZL)

T36 (-2): Adri Arnaus (ESP), Nicolas Colsaerts (BEL)

T44 (-1): George Coetzee (RSA), Edoardo Molinari (ITA), Alex Noren (SWE)

T51 (E): Justin Rose (ENG), Eddie Pepperell (ENG), Nino Bertasio (ITA), Guido Migliozzi (ITA)

T59 (+1): Lee Westwood (ENG), Victor Perez (FRA)

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