Martin Couvra will take a one-shot lead into the final round of the Italian Open as he bids to become the first multiple winner of the year on the DP World Tour.
The Frenchman started the day one shot off the lead and found himself two behind after 11 holes despite carding two birdies and no bogeys.
That all changed at the very next hole, though, as playing partner Angel Ayora surrendered a triple bogey on the 12th to hand Couvra a one-shot advantage.
A 22-foot birdie on the 15th briefly sent Couvra two clear but a bogey at the 17th and pressure from the chasing pack meant he headed to the 18th tee tied at the top.
The 22-year-old, who won the Turkish Airlines Open last month, saved his best until last, bouncing back with a birdie from seven feet on the 18th to sign for a 67 and reach 11 under par.
He sits one stroke ahead of countryman Adrien Saddier and Spain's Eugenio Chacarra on ten under, with Ayora and Andreas Halvorsen in a tie for fourth another shot further back.
Couvra started strongly, tapping in for a birdie at the par-five second after his lengthy eagle try had narrowly missed the hole.
He picked up another birdie at the fifth from around five feet to stay within one shot of Ayora at the summit.
Nine successive pars from the sixth proved enough to earn Couvra the outright lead as Ayora ran up an eight at the 12th.
And when Couvra ended the run of pars with a birdie from more than 20 feet at the 15th, he found himself with a two-shot lead.
But after Saddier birdied the 16th to close to within one, Couvra dropped his first shot of the day on the 17th to see his lead wiped out.
TROUBLESOME HEAT
He got it straight back at the last, though, making the most of three fantastic shots in to finish with a birdie and reclaim the solo lead.
Couvra said: "I’m really proud about my 18th, because I was really tired on the last few holes. It's quite difficult with the heat.
"The course is so tough, so we needed to be very concentrated. I'm happy about the 18th.
"There's a lot of great players here, so you have to keep going. (The lead is) only one shot. I'll try to do my best on the last 18, and that's it.
"It's going to be a great experience because it's my first time being in this position. I'm really proud to be in this position and I hope to be there tomorrow.
"It's really nice to have some good friends on the Tour to play alongside. I’ve known Alex Levy a long time because we're from the same golf course, I train every day with Romain Langasque and Tom Vaillant. We have a lot of good friends, so it's really nice."