Aaron Rai was pleased with his performance after carding two eagles and two birdies in blustery conditions on Saturday to head into the final round of the 2022 DS Automobiles Italian Open one shot off the lead.
Rai went into the third round six shots off the halfway lead but posted a spotless 65 on Moving Day to jump to nine under par.
The two-time DP World Tour winner had to contend with strong winds on day three at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club and admitted it was far from easy.
He said: "It was tough out there. It's been tough the last two, three days, really.
"It was blowing all day. You have to control ball flight and think very well around here.
"It's so difficult when you go in the rough, and it got quite tough towards the end, around hole number 15 for us, the wind switched completely.
"We went from playing the 15th tee-shot into on the left to then being down on the right for the second shot. That was quite tricky to deal with but very pleased with how I played today overall."
After holing some valuable par putts in the first five holes, the Englishman got his first birdie of the day from 11 feet at the sixth.
Two more par saves from around ten feet at the seventh and eighth kept Rai's card clean before an eagle on the ninth catapulted him up the leaderboard.
And when he chipped in from just short of the 12th green for a second eagle of the day, Rai moved to eight under.
He followed that up with a 12-foot birdie at the 13th to get to nine under.
And with the wind picking up significantly in the closing stages of his round, Rai managed to par his way home to sign for a flawless 65.
