Jorge Campillo nearly made a slam dunk and Joaquin Niemann felt like he was in a fifth set on Moving Day at the DS Automobiles 83° Open d'Italia.
Here is everything you need to know from Saturday's play at Circolo Golf Torino.
Back-to-back for Chacarra?
Eugenio Chacarra surged to the summit with a third impressive round in as many days - 66-65-65 - as he looks to follow up his KLM Open win a fortnight ago in similar fashion. The Spaniard held a two-shot lead over playing-partner Matt Wallace and long-time leader Joaquin Niemann and said: “I already proved myself. I'm one of the best players in the world when I'm playing my game and when I'm playing good, so that's why I come every week, I try to win every tournament I play."
Chacarra backed up that claim with shots including approaches to within a foot at the seventh and here at the ninth...
Anyone for tennis?
Niemann has led for much of this week and was briefly five strokes clear just before the turn on Saturday, only to be reeled in by Chacarra and Wallace in the course of a difficult back nine. The Chilean admitted he was "lucky" to still be in contention going into Sunday and, reflecting on his back nine in sweltering conditions in Turin, said: "I felt like I was playing in the fifth set of a tennis match. I was tired, I was hot, it was humid. I was sweating."
Wallace holes a monster
Wallace did not repeat the near-impossible standard set by Saturday's 62, which has him on track to win the US$40,000 Nexo Course Record Award, but hailed Saturday's 67 as "the sort of round that keeps it going". One of the highlights came at the tenth, where he holed this 37-foot birdie putt.
Jorge rattles the cup
Jorge Campillo went close to a slam-dunk eagle at the 11th, settling for a birdie after his ball bounced out to the fringe and spun back on to the edge of the green. Just listen to the sound as it hits the hole!
Nicolai on the charge
Nicolai von Dellingshausen made one of Saturday's biggest moves as a 64 rocketed him up the leaderboard into a share of fourth place with Angel Ayora on 13 under. The German began his round with three straight birdies and ended it with three in four holes, with seven in all on a bogey-free card. Well played Nicolai!
Winther's putter snaps out of 'sulk'
Jeff Winther was another to make the most of Moving Day with a 63 to leap to 11 under par, and gave much of the credit to the reintroduction of an old friend to his bag. "I switched the shaft on my driver, and I changed the putter to my old classic," he said. "It's a golden (Odyssey Exo) Two-Ball, but I've got two variations of it. It worked today a lot better than it did last event. She’s been in the cupboard for Thursday, Friday, just sitting there sulking, and now she came out and she worked today. It was nice." As interviewer Josh Antmann said: "Keep it in the bag, Jeff!"
Kobori's big finish
Kazuma Kobori's putter, meanwhile, was allowed to clock off early for Saturday's shift after the New Zealander finished his round in some style...
