Robert MacIntyre carded a wonderful 64 to set the clubhouse target on day three of the Italian Open.
The Scot was six shots off the lead at the start of the day as Olgiata Golf Club hosted the fifth Rolex Series event of the season but he went bogey free to move to 11 under.
MacIntyre has three runner up finishes in his rookie European Tour season but Kurt Kitayama has two victories and the American was in a share of the lead with three holes of his round remaining.
Overnight leader Matthew Fitzpatrick turned in level par to sit at ten under, a shot clear of Dane Søren Kjeldsen - who carded a 66 - and 2004 champion Graeme McDowell, India's Shubhankar Sharma and Englishman Matt Wallace.
Kjeldsen started the day six shots off the lead but a run of five birdies in a row from the third catapulted him up the leaderboard as he turned in 30.
Fitzpatrick put his approach to the first inside ten feet and rolled home for a birdie but three putted the second to slip back to ten under.
Kjeldsen saw his approach to the 11th roll back into the fringe but the 44-year-old rolled a brilliant putt up the slope for a sixth birdie of the day and a share of the lead.
Wallace hit a stunning approach into the first and holed a long putt on the second before giving a shot back on the third. Another long putt on the fourth continued his roller coaster start and he took advantage of the par five ninth to turn in 32 and get within one.
Playing partner Kitayama also birdied the ninth to go with gains on the fourth and sixth - after a stunning approach - and he was nine under.
But he was not there for long as a very long left to righter on the tenth moved him into double figures and a share.
The playing partners looked to be pushing each other along and after Wallace holed a long putt for birdie, Kitayama followed him in from eight feet for a third birdie in a row and the solo lead.
Kjeldsen dropped a first shot of the day on the 15th and he was replaced in the group in second by playing partner MacIntyre, who made a two putt birdie on the par five.
He had earlier turned in 33 after birdies on the first and eighth and then got from the rough to tap-in range at the tenth and holed from inside ten feet on the 12th and 14th.
A bounce back birdie from Kjeldsen on the par three 16th from 12 feet saw him back at ten under but MacIntyre holed from eight feet on the par five next to share the lead.
A closing bogey from Kjeldsen dropped him back to nine under, while Wallace dropped a shot on the 15th.
McDowell started the day with a very long birdie putt on the first and while he gave the shot back after a poor tee shot on the next, a 15 footer on the third and a long left to righter on the fifth had him within one.
He dropped another shot on the seventh but picked it back up on the tenth in his first 11 holes.
Sharma bogeyed the second but hit back with a birdie on the fourth and he picked up another shot on the next after a stunning recovery from the trees.
Another birdie on the ninth saw him turn in 33 and sit a shot ahead of Joachim B Hansen, Jeunghun Wang and Bernd Wiesberger.
