Francesco Laporta will take a narrow one stroke lead into the final day of the Hopps Open de Provence at Golf International de Pont Royal after posting a three under par round of 69 on moving day.
The Italian, who led by three overnight, mixed an eagle with three birdies and two bogeys on the front nine, and despite a bogey at the par four 16th would birdie the final hole to reach 16 under par for the week.
The 32-year-old leads by one ahead of Spaniard Lucas Vacarisas, who fired an eight under par 64 to move into contention, and home favourite Félix Mory.
Laporta, who triumphed at the Big Green Egg German Challenge powered by VcG in July to claim a third Challenge Tour victory, is hoping to make it four when he tees it up tomorrow.
“This is what we work for,” he said. “Everyone wants to be there and tomorrow I’m in front. I’m just going to try to play the best I can and let’s see what happens.
“I missed a few putts on the back nine and had a couple of three putts unfortunately, but I played solid all day. I had a bit of bad luck on the front nine but that’s part of the game. I feel good for tomorrow.
“I was playing okay so I knew some birdies were on the way. I was just waiting for that. My game is solid and if I give myself opportunities it’s good.”
Laporta currently sits in 25th place on the Road to Mallorca Rankings, and with the top 20 earning promotion to the DP World Tour at the end of the season – something he achieved by finishing as the Number One back in 2019 – a win tomorrow would come at a crucial stage of the season.
“We only have three tournaments to go,” he added. “I’m just outside the top 20 so I need a good week to get back in, so it’s a good opportunity tomorrow.
“I tried to just focus on my game today. I watched the leaderboard a few times. I don’t really like looking too much though. Tomorrow I’ll just focus on my game and think about what I have to do.”
Frenchman Ugo Coussaud and Spaniard Manuel Elvira are three strokes off the lead in fourth on 13 under par, with German duo Maximilian Schmitt and Jannik De Bruyn and Frenchman Frederic Lacroix two shots further back in sixth.
The final round gets under way at 8:20am with Laporta teeing off alongside Vacarisas and Mory at 10:15am.
