Portmarnock’s Conor Purcell vowed to keep his foot on the gas in his bid to wrap up his DP World Tour card with victory in the Italian Challenge Open.
The former Walker Cup star (27) birdied three of his last six holes to card a five-under 66 on moving day and go into Sunday’s final round just two shots behind leader John Parry on 13-under.
“I’m very pleased,” said Purcell, who lies 13th in the race to claim one of 20 DP World Tour cards at the end of the Challenge Tour season with only five events remaining after this week.
“Anytime you go bogey-free, it’s nice and on a Saturday, it’s even better.
“I think I’ve sometimes approached weekends trying not to make mistakes, and I think you just need to keep the pedal down, keep making birdies and see where it leaves you.”
The top ten in the final ranking will be awarded strong cards, and Purcell is determined to remain on the front foot at Argentario Golf Club as he bids to add to his maiden win in July’s NI Open.
“It’s fairly soft out there, so you can go after pins,” he said after following birdies at the fourth and seventh with three more at the 13th, 15th and 18th.
“I actually felt like my game was a little bit poorer than yesterday, but I just kept mistakes off the card and then made a couple of birdies coming in, which was good.
“It felt quite slow until then, but I hit some lovely shots coming in, and it was nice to have a little tap in at the last.
“I’ll go out there tomorrow and try to make some birdies and limit mistakes.
“It’s nothing miraculous needed, but plenty of birdies.”
Parry (35) fired a six-under 65 to head second-placed Purcell by two strokes on 15-under.
The Englishman is the Road to Mallorca number two, and while he’s guaranteed his card, he’s excited by the prospect of securing a third win.
“I think it makes me a lot more relaxed for tomorrow, knowing that I’ve got my card for next year already, but I would obviously like to get my third win,” Parry said.
“It would be great to do it, but I know it’s going to be a challenge. I’m looking forward to it though.
“I just need to keep playing how I’m playing. There are some low rounds out there and I think someone will do that tomorrow, so it depends if it’s anyone near me, but I’ll go out and try to shoot four or five under and see what happens.”
In the La Sella Open on the Ladies European Tour, Castlewarden’s Lauren Walsh shot a two-under 70 to go into the final round tied for 26th on two-under.
She’s ten strokes behind Germany’s Helen Briem with Douglas’ Sara Byrne 53rd on two-over after taking 36 putts in a 77.