The Scots were dominating the leaderboard in the third round of the Challenge Provincia di Varese, with Raymond Russell leading at 14 under par and Andrew McArthur two shots behind.
Both played their first nine holes in four under par to surge ahead, leaving behind Switzerland’s Raphael De Sousa and Italian Marco Crespi who were on two and one under for the day respectively to reach 11 under overall.
Russell had birdies at the fourth, sixth, seventh and ninth, while McArthur birdied the fourth then picked up shots on three consecutive holes from the sixth.
Argentine Daniel Vancsik, who shared the overnight lead with Crespi and Russell, remained on ten under after reaching the turn in level par.
