Matteo Manassero stamped his authority with a flawless third round of 63 to hit the front at the BMW PGA Championship.
Moving day lived up to full billing as six players held the lead in some capacity during a Saturday which started in torrential rain and finished in glorious sunshine at Wentworth Club.
However, it was Manassero who took the tournament by storm after carding an eagle and six birdies to reach 18 under, the lowest 54-hole score to par in the event’s history, and sit three clear of playing partners Billy Horschel and Rory McIlroy.
The Italian won this event in 2013 before a downturn in form saw him lose his playing rights five years later. That resulted in him stepping away from the game completely for a few months before returning on the Alps Tour.
Manassero worked his way through to the European Challenge Tour and regained his DP World Tour card for the current campaign, winning his fourth title at this level at the Jonsson Workwear Open in March.
“No, not really if I have to be honest,” Manassero said when asked if he saw his score coming early in the day. “It was one of the best rounds I’ve ever played considering the conditions, especially on the front nine.
“It was raining, it was soft, but it was playing long. There weren’t too many birdies out there but I made the most of them and it was just a fantastic round.
“The feeling is great playing with guys like Rory and Billy and the atmosphere. Wentworth puts up such a fantastic show around us and of course you feed off that, you feed off playing with great players so it was one of those really nice Saturdays.
“Of course I will see the leaderboard and I know what I’m going to face tomorrow and it is a great position to be in.
“It’s not going to be an easy task tomorrow, golf today was great with me and we will see about tomorrow. I will take everything in hand with what this event means and I will make the most out of a Sunday in tough but nice conditions.”
Overnight leader Matthew Baldwin negotiated the first with a nerve-calming drive as the final group began with a par apiece, but Niklas Nørgaard and Antoine Rozner made their move at the next.
Nørgaard was inches from the second ace of the day on the hole for a tap-in to close the gap to one, with Rozner following the Dane with a birdie to reach 11 under.
Baldwin salvaged par after finding the bunker but missed from short range at the next to slip back alongside Nørgaard at 12 under.
Shortly after, Manassero drained a lengthy eagle putt at the 3rd to make it a three-way tie at the top and then McIlroy followed suit from five feet to sit one adrift with Rozner.
Rozner briefly made it four at the summit after a great birdie at the 4th, but Nørgaard and Baldwin picked up shots at the same hole to jump ahead to 13 under.
All three members of the final group bogeyed the 5th, with Nørgaard and Baldwin joining Manassero at 12 under for a three-way tie.
Baldwin returned to 13 under for a second time with a birdie at the 6th, the same hole that Nørgaard bogeyed. Manassero was not on his own at 12 under though as McIlroy rolled in a lovely putt for gain at the 7th.
The Northern Irishman was joint leader when he drained a 20-foot putt at the 10th to climb up to 13 under alongside Baldwin.
Manassero returned to the summit to make it a trio in the lead with a gain at the 11th, with McIlroy inches away from holing a chip which would have taken him into the outright lead.
Horschel briefly made it a four-way tie with a birdie at the 12th, but Manassero and McIlroy matched him to nudge ahead at 14 under.
A birdie from Baldwin at the 12th saw him increase the leading group to three and when Horschel rolled in his sixth successive gain at the hole ahead, there was four at the top.
Manassero stretched the advantage to 15 under thanks to a brilliant 20-footer at the 14th, with Horschel making it seven straight birdies from seven feet to join the Italian at the summit.
Baldwin did not wait long to rejoin the leading pair when picking up a shot at the 14th, but Horschel slipped back when his career-best birdie run was ended with a bogey at the next.
Manassero and Baldwin saved par at the 15th before the former jumped out on his own after back-to-back birdies from the 16th to become the first player at 17 under.
McIlroy found the greenside water at the last just as Baldwin bogeyed the penultimate hole to slip back to 14 under, however, Manassero continued to press forward.
The 31-year-old finished his round with a hat-trick of birdies for a blemish-free third round, while Horschel climbed to 15 under with a gain of his own at the last.
Baldwin recorded a 70 to sit in fourth at 14 under, while Rozner and South Africa’s Thriston Lawrence were one further back and Aaron Rai was at 12 under.
Harry Hall was alone in eighth at 11 under, with Marcus Armitage, Robert MacIntyre and Germany’s Yannik Paul sitting at 10 under.
– Edited report from DP World Tour
Photo: Warren Little/Getty Images
