British Masters: Sam Horsfield battles three eagles in 61

Sam Horsfield finished fifth in the British Masters in 2018 -16 R Paratore (Ita); -15 J Harding (SA); -14 R Hojgaard (Den); -13 D Whitnell (Eng); -12 S Horsfield (Eng), A Chesters (Eng) Selected others: -11 R Rock (Eng); -9 O Fisher (Eng), A Sullivan (Eng); -8 E Pepperell (Eng); -4 D Law (Sco) -3 MA Jimenez (Spa); Level L Westwood (Eng)

The English Sam Horsfield shot a 61 with three eagles to battle himself towards the last day from the British Masters.

The 23-year-old improved to 12 under par, four behind Italian leader Renato Paratore, who has yet to drop a shot.

Justin Harding from South Africa is one back at 15 below, followed by the Danish teenager Rasmus Hojgaard and the English Dale Whitnell in Close House. Friday 72.

Westwood – a course participant in North East England, who also hosted the event in 2017 – just made the cut on Thursday but did not improve in the third round.

The number 34 in the world, the highest ranked player in the field, recovered from two early bogeys to birdie's sixth, seventh and par-four eleventh, for consecutive shots at 15 and 16.

Horsfield, chasing his first win on the European Tour, just started the day for Westwood.

He played the first nine in 30, despite a bogey on the fourth, and his second eagle on 10 offered a chance to card only the second sub. 60 round in the history of the European Tour.

It wouldn't be for the Manchester golfer as a string of pars followed, but Horsfield played the last par-five out of 17 for a 10-under-par 61 that takes him away to 12 under for the tournament.

Compatriot Ashley Chesters is also four strokes ahead after a round of 68 on Friday.

Whitnell, the 31-year-old former courier driver from Colchester, followed the English pair with successive birdies to move up to 13 moving away.

Paratore retained his one-shot lead overnight with another bogey-free round, meaning he didn't drop a shot through 54 holes.

"I played very solid," said the 23-year-old after a bird last for a second consecutive 66. "When I made a mistake, I made it with a good well . "

Harding, 34 and 19 year old Hojgaard are both on the hunt for a second European Tour title.

Hojgaard saved par with a 15-foot putt on 13 after taking a penalty kick, but then dropped his only shot of the day at 18 to leave two out of tempo fall.

England & # 39; s Eddie Pepperell, one of only three players in the field in the top 100 in the world, birdied the last to move to eight under.

Round one leader David Law and fellow Scot Callum Hill started the day with two shots ahead, but are now 12 and eight strokes adrift