The standings of the Italian Open after three rounds could not be tighter. The Frenchman Antoine Rozner (-10) surprised everyone by coming out in the second match of the day, eight strokes from the lead, and signing a round of 62 strokes to reach a leadership that he was never going to lose. However, up to three players matched him at the top and, therefore, tomorrow the fourth and final round will start with a quartet of leaders. They are the indefatigable German Marcel Siem (-10), the Indian Shubhankar Sharma (-10) and the young 21-year-old Dane Sebastian Friedrischen (-10). (Yes, Denmark continues to be fashionable in European golf; there is hardly a week in which one of its players does not stand out).
Just one stroke behind is Adrián Otaegui (-9), who today has finished a very solid round of golf (he has hunted up to 16 greens in regulation, the last twelve consecutively) and stands as a clear candidate for the final victory. For his experience, for his position, and for his composure when the pressure is on. The man from San Sebastian could achieve his sixth victory on the European circuit tomorrow at the Adriatic Golf Club Cervia, a figure that commands respect. Very few reach such a figure and, in addition, Adrián is only 31 years old. Not only that, as the seasons go by (and he has already had eleven consecutive on the DP World Tour, counting the current one in progress) he has been gaining in solidity and reliability, if possible, because he was always a fundamentally consistent player. Whatever has to happen will happen, but Otaegui is not given the label of clear candidate for victory for free, by no means: all the Spanish colleagues who come out tomorrow with chances of victory know that he will be one of the tough nuts to crack.
Adri Arnaus (-6), for his part, comes out a little further away, but within a reasonable margin for the comeback. His round today has been a song to resistance, as he ended up handing in a card of 70 strokes, one less on the day, after signing a whopping seventeen pars and a solitary birdie. And he did it by saving all kinds of more or less delicate situations and, also, why not say it, leaving behind some good option, like the 18th hole, where he missed a putt of a meter and a half birdie. Let’s be frank: to win tomorrow he is going to need greater consistency from the tee. But the fact is that he is there, hovering around that great result that he so badly needs to relaunch his season.
Ángel Ayora (-5) has more than fulfilled today by signing a card of 69 strokes. He is in the top 25 after 54 holes and we will not be the ones, from this page, who put fences in the field… Be that as it may, he continues to show that the first division of continental golf is not a habitat that is too big or uncomfortable for him. Quite the opposite seems to be the case.
Surely Pablo Larrazábal (-4) also wants to be a protagonist in the final stretch. It would not be the first time that this player makes the cut by the skin of his teeth and ends up in the top ten. Today he has gained ground with a record of 68 strokes and tomorrow he will do it again. In this regard, bets are accepted… Finally, Manu Elvira (-2) and Ángel Hidalgo (-1), who are going to come out in the first matches of the day, should not lose sight of how important it is at this stage to continue adding, to reach as soon as possible the figure that guarantees ‘permanence’.
