Khan on course for record

British golfer Simon Khan continued to enjoy the best season of his career in the third round of the Italian Open.

Khan is in only his second full season on the European Tour after coming through the qualifying school on the last two occasions, his eighth and ninth attempts respectively.

The 30-year-old lost his card last season after finishing 165th on the Order of Merit, making the cut in less than half of his 18 tournaments with a best finish of joint 24th.

It has been a completely different story so far in 2003, with a best-ever fourth place finish in the Caltex Masters in Singapore followed by further top 10s in Malaysia and last week's Spanish Open in Tenerife.

Prize money of £76,000 (€108,000) already this season is almost £30,000 (€42,000) more than he had previously earned in his career, and there looked like plenty more to come as Khan moved to within a stroke of the lead at Gardagolf.

Rounds of 70 and 72 saw Khan make the halfway cut with a stroke to spare on two under par, eight shots off the lead held by Australian Peter O'Malley and Swede Fredrik Widmark.

That gap was soon eroded with four birdies in a row from the fourth in more perfect conditions in near Lake Garda this morning however, and another on the ninth took Khan out in 31.

Further birdies on the 11th and 13th moved Khan to nine under for the tournament and seven under for the day, needing one more birdie in his last three holes to equal the course record of 64 set by Bernhard Langer in 1997 and equalled by O'Malley on Thursday.