Sunday 16 April 2017 17:38, UK
Paul Dunne moved a step closer to a maiden European Tour title by grabbing a two-stroke lead at the Trophee Hassan II in Morocco on Saturday.
The Irishman posted a second successive 69 at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam to move ahead of Renato Paratore, who surged up the leaderboard with a course-record 66.
Beginning the day two strokes behind midway pacesetter Gregory Havret, Dunne made a fast start and followed an opening-hole birdie with back-to-back gains from the fourth.
Dunne, who memorably held a share of the lead heading into the final round of the 2015 Open Championship, reached the turn tied with playing partner Trevor Fisher Jnr after the South African drained a 20-footer at the ninth.
The pair both birdied the par-five 10th but Fisher Jnr then bogeyed the next two, as Dunne rolled in from four feet to briefly open up a three-shot cushion.
A double-bogey at the 13th saw Dunne temporarily slip back alongside Lucas Bjerregaard, who posted three birdies in six holes around the turn but bogeyed his final three holes.
Dunne then edged back ahead with a run of pars along the closing stretch, before recovering from finding the trees at the par-five 18th to hole a 20-foot birdie and double his advantage.
"I'm not going to say I'm going to win tomorrow, but I feel like I'm more ready to win than I was then [2015]," Dunne said. "I feel like it's something I should do rather than make the end to a great story.
"If I break 70 again I think it's going to be hard for someone to catch me so I'm just going to try to do that."
Paratore, also searching for a first European Tour title, birdied three of his final five holes to get to six under, with Pablo Larrazabal, Paul Waring and Lasse Jensen a further stroke back in a share of third.
Havret and Bjerregaard are in the group of six players on four under, with 16 players heading into Sunday within five strokes of the lead.
Watch the final round of the Trophee Hassan II live on Sky Sports 4 - your home of golf. Coverage begins on Sunday from 2.30pm.
