The third round of the Hotelplanner Tour’s Italian Challenge Open got underway on Saturday as South Africa’s JC Ritchie posted a four-under-par round to hold top spot only this time to be joined by Sweden’s Robin Petersson at 16-under-par.
With two wins already under his belt, Ritchie is seeking his third to gain automatic promotion to the DP World Tour next season.
The 31-year-old who triumphed at the Open de Portugal at Royal Óbidos last week to pick up his second win of the season, is excited by the prospect of completing the perfect season tomorrow at Golf Nazionale.
“It’s the ultimate goal to win three times,” he said. “To achieve that would be the biggest dream come true. It’s been on my mind for a while.”
“For a couple of years, I’ve always felt like I’ve been capable of achieving it, but this is the first year I’ve felt like my game is in the position to try and backup that sort of statement.”
“Tomorrow’s going to be fun. I’m going to enjoy it, I’ve got nothing to lose, and my game has been solid, so I’ll go at it.”
“It’s going to take a lot of discipline. Hopefully the conditions stay tough, and I think you’re going to get rewarded if you hit good shots and punished if you hit bad ones.”
Looking to spoil the parade and earn his maiden win, Petersson posted an exciting six-under-par round three to join Ritchie at the top.
Making five birdies, a hole-out eagle and a bogey, Petersson is hoping for a career defining moment on Sunday.
“The last couple of weeks I’ve felt like I’ve struggled a bit off the tee, but I’ve found something this week,” he said.
“It’s been a long season, I’ve had a few good finishes, and I know you’re not going to play well in every event, but it would be awesome to top it all off with a victory.”
“I’m not sure I should think along those ways, but it would be awesome. I’m just looking forward to coming out tomorrow and we’ll see where I’m at.”
“It’s kind of the last regular season event this week, and I knew I just needed to make the cut here. Having done that feels amazing. I still have one more day to play, but it looks very good for me to keep my card for next year.”
“Maybe with a good finish tomorrow I can even contend for a DP World Tour card at the end of the year.”
A flawless round that saw six birdies and an eagle sees England’s Dan Brown occupy solo third, two-shots back on 14-under.
Dutchman Lars van der Vight shares fourth place on 13 under par alongside Rocco Repetto Taylor from Spain and Swede Christofer Rahm, with four players one shot further back in seventh, including leading Italian Lorenzo Scalise.
The final round of the Italian Challenge Open gets under way tomorrow at 7:40am local time, with Ritchie and Petersson teeing off alongside Brown at 11:30am.
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