FIANO, Italy – Garth Mulroy of South Africa shot a 6-under 66 Saturday, giving him a one-shot lead after three rounds of the Italian Open. Ryder Cup players Nicolas Colsaerts and Martin Kaymer were four strokes behind.
Mulroy was at 17 under on the Royal Park I Roveri course outside Turin. Last November, Mulroy won the Alfred Dunhill Championship at home for his first European Tour victory. He has yet to win in Europe.
"I said on the first day the course reminds me a lot of a South African course," he said. "The trees, the shape, and the ball goes a little further, too. ... I haven't played so well this year. It would be a big thing to win on mainland Europe."
Three Spaniards were right behind — Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (67) at 16 under and Rafa Cabrera-Bello (65) and Pablo Larrazabal (66) one shot further back.
Colsaerts (65) and Kaymer (67) remain in contention at 13 under, along with 19-year-old Matteo Manassero of Italy (65), second-round leader Richard Bland of England (71), Phillip Price of Wales (66) and Gregory Bourdy of France (70).
Colsaerts, the European Tour's longest hitter, was a captain's pick for the Ryder Cup, which will be held in two weeks at Medinah Country Club outside Chicago.
The third Ryder Cup player in the field, Italy's Francesco Molinari, fell back to 3 under with a 76. Europe Ryder Cup captain Jose Maria Olazabal also shot a 76 and was at par.
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