Golf: Florioli on top in Madeira

Italy's Massimo Florioli produced a blistering scoring burst to take the lead midway through the third round of the Madeira Island Open.

Florioli birdied the third and then rattled in five birdies in a row to cover the front nine at Santo da Serra in just 30 strokes.

Having started the day four shots off the lead, that brilliant run took him into a three stroke lead on 14 under par.

England's John Bickerton and Wales' Stephen Dodd his nearest challengers.

Bickerton, forced to withdraw from the Qatar Masters last week with a stomach virus, picked up birdies at the first and third with a bogey on the second sandwiched in between to be out in 35 and reach 11 under par.

Dodd also reached the turn in 35 but then started home birdie-eagle-birdie to jump up the leaderboard into a tie for second.

Overnight leader Niclas Fasth suffered a disastrous start to his third round, dropping four shots in three holes.

But the 28-year-old Swede, confident of repeating his triumph of 12 months ago when he led from start to finish, recovered his composure to birdie the eighth and ninth holes and get back into contention on 10 under par.

Also on 10 under were England's David Lynn, five under par for the day after 12 holes, and Scotland's Andrew Oldcorn, who matched playing partner Fasth's birdies on eight and nine.

Meanwhile, Seve Ballesteros was back on five under par, level for the day, after making his first cut since September last year following a second round 68.