Otto - put himself into a fantastic position.

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Less than two months after losing a five-stroke lead on the final day in Madeira, South African Hennie Otto is 4/6 to win his first European Tour title at the Italian Open on Sunday.

A third round 63 in Milan brought the 31-year-old from two behind to four ahead and he's no bigger than the 4/6 dangled by Sportingbet and Stan James and would surely be shorter still but for that Madeira episode.

Otto, not even a full member of the Tour at the moment, is on the 22 under par total of 194. In relation to par, that score has only been bettered by one shot in the history of the circuit.

Otto, who did not know until a week ago whether he would have a place in the event, said: "This course gives you birdies and the less mistakes you make, you will be up there.

"I just didn't make any putts in Madeira, but I hit it closer today and made a few. I was going home after this week, but a top-10 here will get me into the Irish Open.'"

A win, of course, would make him exempt for the next two years, and he added: "My biggest goal is to get my card back."

Ryder Cup Swede Robert Karlsson was the man who had led at halfway following a course record 61, but he managed "only" a 69 on the low-scoring Castello di Tolcinasco layout.

And that dropped the tournament's highest-ranked player - he stands 48th in the world to Otto's 154th - into a tie for second on 18 under with compatriot Christian Nilsson and Spain's Alvaro Velasco.

Karlsson is viewed as the only serious threat to Otto at no better than 9/2 with VC Bet - it's 20/1 and upwards about the rest.