Danny Willett heads strong challenge from Ryder Cup stars at Italian Open

Danny Willett will go into the final day of the weather-ravaged Italian Open just one shot off the lead, although he still has half of his third round to complete in Milan.

Only four players in the field had managed to complete their second rounds on schedule before play was abandoned on Friday due to torrential rain which had also disrupted the opening day at Golf Club Milano, but the weather relented and allowed a full day's action which ended with Alexander Levy at the top of the leaderboard.

But Willett is well placed to contend for his first victory since his surprise Masters triumph in April after a superb second-round 64 followed by a steady first eight holes of his third, while halfway leader Chris Paisley and English compatriot Chris Hanson are also tied for second along with home favourite Francesco Molinari.

Levy was five strokes off the pace at the halfway stage before making a blistering start to his third round, smashing his second to 12 feet and converting for eagle at the opening hole and following up with a birdie at the second.

The Frenchman picked up another shot at the fifth and his red-hot iron play set up further gains at each of the next three holes, narrowly missing out on a second eagle at the ninth in a superb, outward 29.

Levy parred 10, 11 and 12 before darkness fell to retain the outright lead, while Molinari gave his adoring home fans plenty to shout about as he hit back from a bogey at the second with three straight birdies from the fourth.

The former Ryder Cup player just had time to roll in his fifth birdie of the round at the 10th before the klaxons sounded, while Hanson and Paisley, will resume on the 10th early on Sunday morning.

Paisley, who is languishing at 123rd in the Race to Dubai, raced into the halfway lead with flawless rounds of 66 and a 63 which included six birdies in eight holes on the back nine, but he dropped his first shot of the tournament after pulling his opening drive of the third round way left into the trees.

He got the shot straight back at the second and then parred the next seven holes to remain at 13 under with Hanson, who dropped only two shots over the first 36 holes and eagled the 14th twice before birdies at the third and ninth lifted him into the share of second place.

But much of the focus on the final day will be on Willett as he continued an impressive warm-up for his Ryder Cup debut at the end of the month, while fellow European rookies Andy Sullivan, Matt Fitzpatrick, Rafael Cabrera Bello and Chris Wood are also in contention.

Willett's all-round game looked in great shape as he completed a classy seven-birdie second round, although he failed to build on an early birdie in his third round as he carded six consecutive pars.

The world No 11, who is without a top-10 finish since the BMW PGA Championship in May, blocked his ambitious three-wood second to the ninth and opted against completing the hole in fading light.

Last year's Wentworth champion Byeong Hun An is among a group of four players on 12 under, with Sullivan a further shot adrift with just two holes of his third round to complete.

Sullivan hit a rich vein of form mid-round as he eagled the ninth and birdied 11, 14 and 15 to climb to 11 under alongside Fitzpatrick, who offset six birdies with two bogeys in his third round and will resume on the long 14th.

Cabrera Bello made the cut with a shot to spare and began his third round at the 10th, charging up the leaderboard with five birdies in a back-nine 30 and picking up further shots at the fifth and sixth to join the logjam on 11 under.

Wood matched Paisley's 63 in round two thanks to nine birdies against just one blemish and, after beginning his third with a well-crafted four, he dropped his third shot of the week at the fifth and parred the next four holes to stay at 10 under before darkness fell.

Of the other Ryder Cup stars in the field, Martin Kaymer is not out of the equation on eight under par after 16 holes of his third round, but veteran Lee Westwood bowed out after bogeys at 16 and 17 saw him slip to one under - two shots too many to make the halfway cut.

Set your alarms - live coverage of the final day with begin on Sunday at 6:30am on Sky Sports 4 - your home of golf.