Lorenzo Scalise posted the lowest round of his professional career to jump from the cut line into a share of the lead on day three of the Kaskáda Golf Challenge.
The Italian carded a bogey-free ten under par round of 61 to join overnight leader Marcel Schneider of Germany, Scotland’s Bradley Neil, Norway’s Kristian Krogh Johannessen and Denmark’s Nicolai Kristensen in a tie for the 54-hole lead on 12 under par, while New Zealand’s Josh Geary and Australian Dimitrios Papadatos sit one shot back in a share of sixth place on 11 under par at Kaskáda Golf Resort.
Scalise started well with four birdies going out but his round really came to life as he reached the final stretch, carding five birdies in his final six holes to move solidly into contention.
“It was just one of those days,” he said. “Everything is going pretty well, I played well off the tee, hit good iron shots, made some long putts and I didn’t miss any short ones. Even when I did hit bad shots, I was able to recover, so it was a perfect day.
“It’s my lowest professional round. I have another ten under par on a course that we’re going to be at in a few weeks, so we’ll see if there’s going to be another one – I hope so!
“It definitely changes the week, for sure. I’m now in contention and, to be honest, I haven’t been in contention in quite some time. I’m looking forward to tomorrow and the plan is going to be the same, we’ll see what tomorrow brings.”
Scalise made the biggest jump on moving day, but Neil will also be pleased with his day’s work after posting his lowest round for two years, a seven under par 64, to join the leading quintet.
“The game and the scores have trended in the right direction this week,” Neil said. “You’ve got to hit the ball well round the course, you’ve got to keep it in play off the tee and I was holing putts today, which makes a big difference.
“The season has been tough, but everybody can probably say the same thing. I feel like I’ve probably expected a lot of myself this year. I expected a lot of myself when I came back to the Challenge Tour in 2019 but I expected more of myself this year because I put in a lot of work in the winter time. It hasn’t shown. You kind of just lose all that expectation and you go back to thinking ‘What was the point?’
“Obviously I want to win, I think that’s the same for any guy in my position. I remember I was really close four years ago when I got off the Challenge Tour, two weeks in a row I was really close. I’ve always wanted to win an event. Seeing other Scottish players do it, watching Craig Howie do it earlier this year was fantastic and it gives you that spur where you think ‘I can do that as well’.”
England’s Matthew Baldwin also posted a seven under 64 to move into a share of eighth place with four-time European Tour winner Marcel Siem on ten under par, with the German posting a one over par 72 on day three.
American Paul Peterson, Sweden’s Jesper Sandborg and Germany’s Freddy Schott will all go into the final round just three shots off the lead in a tie for tenth place and with a shot at glory well within their sights.
The final round of the Kaskáda Golf Challenge will get under way at 8:00am local time on Sunday, with Scalise, Kristensen and Neil comprising the final group at 9:50am.
