Whiteford, Murray and Stewart miss the cut

Delpodio continues to reign in Rome
 
 EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Matteo Delpodio maintained his commanding lead at the EMC Challenge Open as darkness fell on Rome’s Olgiata Golf Club, preventing the third round from being completed.
The Italian seemed to be playing a different course to the others, at one point moving six shots clear of the field, and sat on seven under par, five shots clear of three players, with 12 holes of his third round remaining.
Heavy rain on the first two days saw the completion of the second round delayed until the third morning, when fog postponed the resumption further.
Turin-born Delpodio was unaffected by the long waiting game, dropping only two shots in the first three days and minimising any errors made as he led by three shots at the halfway point.
Behind him after two rounds was Spaniard Borja Virto Astudillo, the only other man to shoot under par in his first two rounds, who said the interruptions due to the weather had proven problematic.
“It’s been a crazy week with all the delays,” said the 24 year old. “It seems like it’s taking forever and it’s not ideal but I’ll just try to take it easy, play as much as we can when we can.
“It’s difficult with all the waits, then fog this morning as well, but it’s the same for everyone. We get here really early and we leave really late, you’re on the course all day long, so it’s difficult.
“It’s hard to find a rhythm to your game because you have hours to wait in between your rounds – you play a little, wait, play a little more.
“I’m comfortable round here. I’ve been playing pretty well – nothing great, nothing special, just hitting the fairways, hitting the greens, making some putts.
“The most important thing is avoiding mistakes. It’s a long course, so I’ve made sure my mishits are just a little off the green, or away from the pin, but I’m not missing it off the tee which makes it easier to avoid a big number.
“The sunshine makes it a lot easier, especially compared to Thursday where it felt so long with the rain. Now some of the tees are moved up and the greens are soft so you can go for the pins a bit more aggressively.”
Astudillo, playing alongside Delpodio and Stuart Manley in the final group, struggled at the start of his third round, dropping three shots in his first six holes to fall eight shots behind the leader at the close of play.
Of the 63 players to make the cut at six over par 148 and better on the par-71 lay-out, Ricardo Gouveia again made the most eye-catching start to the third round, three birdies taking him to three under par overall and in second place on his own before a late bogey saw him share second place with Simon Griffiths and Sebastian Soderberg.
The Portuguese is the defending champion here, having claimed his maiden Challenge Tour victory in a play-off against Florian Fritsch 12 months ago, and looks well placed to compete for the crown again.

SECOND-ROUND SCORES
par 142 (2x71)
 137 M Delpodio  (Ita) 69 68,
 140 B Virto Astudillo (Esp) 70 70,
 141 S Manley (Wal) 73 68, R Gouveia (Por) 72 69, S Soderberg (Swe) 72 69,
 142 S Wakefield (Eng) 71 71, S Griffiths (Eng) 71 71, W Harrold (Eng) 70 72, A McArthur  (Sco) 73 69,
 143 A Björk (Swe) 71 72, E Dubois (Fra) 72 71, P Maddy (Eng) 73 70, J Rask (Swe) 72 71, R Davies (Wal) 73 70,
 144 M Salminen (Fin) 73 71, J Dantorp (Swe) 73 71, F Bergamaschi (Ita) 73 71, D Coupland (Eng) 73 71, A Velasco (Esp) 73 71, M Jonzon (Swe) 73 71,
 145 G Boyd  (Eng) 72 73, M Wiegele  (Aut) 72 73, J Heath  (Eng) 72 73, S Walker (Eng) 75 70, C Hanson (Eng) 75 70, S Henry  (Sco) 71 74, G Watremez (Bel) 73 72, C Shinkwin (Eng) 73 72, R McGowan  (Eng) 73 72, T Linard (Fra) 72 73, S Brown (Eng) 72 73, P Archer (Eng) 73 72, H Porteous (RSA) 77 68, T Tree (Eng) 75 70,
 146 C Berardo (Fra) 77 69, M Orrin (Eng) 74 72, N Quintarelli (Ita) 72 74, A Ahokas (Fin) 70 76, J Winther (Den) 74 72, F Laporta (Ita) 74 72, F Praegant (Aut) 76 70, V Riu  (Fra) 76 70, J Guerrier  (Fra) 74 72, R McGee (Irl) 74 72,
 147 A Tadini (Ita) 72 75, S Gros (Fra) 74 73, B Åkesson (Swe) 74 73, S Pitoni (Ita) 74 73, T Sluiter  (Ned) 74 73, M Southgate  (Eng) 73 74, A Hartø  (Den) 75 72, C Gloet  (Den) 76 71, N Geyger (Chi) 76 71, C Ford (Eng) 72 75,
 148 D Law (Sco) 76 72, A Pavan (Ita) 72 76, J Makitalo  (Fin) 76 72, H Joannes  (Bel) 76 72, R Coles (Eng) 75 73, J Sjöholm (Swe) 75 73, T Murray (Eng) 72 76, J Doherty  (Sco) 78 70, L Cianchetti (am) (Ita) 75 73#
MISSED THE CUT
 149 J Lima  (Por) 74 75, S Heisele (Ger) 76 73, L Motta (Ita) 76 73, A Dunbar (Nir) 72 77, S Jeppesen  (Swe) 75 74, L Gagli  (Ita) 76 73, M Søgaard  (Den) 74 75,
 150 P Whiteford (Sco) 76 74, J Gonnet  (Fra) 77 73, J Lara (Esp) 77 73, E Bertheussen (Nor) 73 77, E Cuartero Blanco  (Esp) 76 74, M Röhrig (Ger) 79 71, M Bernardini  (Ita) 76 74, N Ravano (Ita) 75 75, C Sordet  (Fra) 75 75, J Fahrbring (Swe) 76 74, B Stone (RSA) 75 75,
 151 R Evans  (Eng) 74 77, A Maestroni  (Ita) 75 76, S Arnold  (Aus) 80 71, D Huizing (Ned) 77 74, H Bacher (Aut) 78 73, M Schneider (Ger) 77 74, M Lafeber (Ned) 77 74, F Calmels  (Fra) 75 76, G Murray  (Sco) 78 73, A Altuntas (am) (Tur) 78 73,
 152 J Hansen  (Den) 78 74, L Nemecz (Aut) 77 75, P Widegren  (Swe) 75 77, R Santos  (Por) 79 73, R Whitson (Nir) 77 75, C Aguilar  (Esp) 79 73,
 153 D Im (USA) 82 71, D Stewart (Sco) 78 75, N Bertasio (Ita) 79 74,
 154 J Senior (Eng) 77 77,
 155 G Porteous (Eng) 75 80, A Bernadet  (Fra) 77 78, D Burmester (RSA) 80 75, J Huldahl (Den) 73 82,
 156 D Ulrich (Sui) 81 75, C Mivis  (Bel) 81 75,
 157 M Fenasse (Fra) 76 81,
 162 P Relecom  (Bel) 85 77,
 166 S Akarsu (am) (Tur) 83 83,
 172 A Rota (Ita) 89 83,
 ** F Andersson Hed (Swe) 80 disqualified, A Saddier (Fra) 79 retired, S Fallon (Eng) 80 retired, J San Felix (Esp) 79 retired, J Robinson (Eng) 78 withdrew, G Baumann  (Sui) 83 withdrew, D Woltman (USA) retired 0, D Foos (Ger) RT  0, W Booth  (Sco) retired.