Silvia Cavalleri strengthened her grip on the La Perla Italian Open by taking the lead outright after Saturday's third round at Poggio dei Medici near Florence.

Cavalleri would have taken a two-stroke lead into the final round but dropped a shot at the last hole after driving into deep rough on the par five 18th.

 Complete third round leaderboard

That mistake meant she finished 12 under, just a stroke clear of Denmark's Iben Tinning, with whom she had shared the lead when the pair teed off.

Cavalleri, chasing her first professional title, carded a 69 with Tinning returning a 70.

Fairclough was just one adrift at halfway but was not at her best on the greens and slipped back on the inward nine.

She was joined on seven under by Australia's Karen Lunn, who flew up the leaderboard with a course record 64, nine under par.

Bad day

But Lunn's return of nine birdies and an eagle convinced Fairclough that the leading pair can still be caught.

"There are a lot of birdies out there," the former Solheim Cup player said.

"I think I'll need to shoot at least six under to have a chance, but it is possible."

However, it was a bad day for another Briton, the former US and British Open champion, Alison Nicholas.

One behind at halfway, the 40-year-old slumped to a 79 and finished 11 off the pace on 218.

For 29-year-old Cavalleri, the aim is to set a first professional title alongside her many amateur honours, which include the 1990 British Girls' Championship and the 1997 US Open Amateur.

"But there is still a long way to go," she said. "It would be great to win here, but I'm trying not to think too far ahead."

Selected third round scores:(Gbr & Irl unless stated)

(Gbr & Irl unless stated): 207 Silvia Cavalleri (Ita) 68 70 69
208 Iben Tinning (Den) 69 69 70
212 Karen Lunn (Aus) 77 71 64, Lora Fairclough 67 72 73
213 Cecilia Ekelundh (Swe) 69 75 69, Marine Monnet (Fra) 71 71 71, Cecilie Lundgreen (Nor) 73 69 71, Asa Gottmo (Swe) 71 70 72
214 Paula Marti (Spa) 71 78 65, Kirsty S Taylor 74 72 68, Trish Johnson 73 72 69, Raquel Carriedo (Spa) 73 70 71, Gina Scott (Nzl) 67 74 73, Nicola Moult 72 69 73
215 Kirsty Taylor 75 69 71, Rikka Hakkarainen (Fin) 72 70 73

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