MONTREAL, Canada (AFP) — Italian veteran Matteo Manassero was poised to challenge for his first US PGA Tour title after conjuring seven birdies in a six-under par 64 to share the 54-hole lead at the Canadian Open with New Zealand's Ryan Fox.

Fox also fired seven birdies and a bogey at TPC Toronto Osprey Valley, their 14-under par total of 196 putting the leaders one stroke clear atop a congested leaderboard, with 22 more players within four strokes of the lead.

On a day when as many as 11 players shared the lead at one point, Manassero was the first to reach 14-under with his sixth birdie of the day at the 15th.

He bogeyed 17, where he was in the left rough off the tee and missed a four-footer to save par, but he birdied the par-five 18th.

"It was a really good round," Manassero said.

"I missed the short one on 17, and I did miss a couple more short ones today. I try to think of them just like a shot really, like a driver, like a six-iron, whatever. It's just a shot.”

"It wasn't that hard for me to stay focused on what I was doing and not ruining (it) at the end."

Manassero, a five-time winner on the DP World Tour, is seeking his first US tour title. The 32-year-old Italian has revived his career after briefly walking away from the game in the midst of a prolonged slump. He claimed his first DP World Tour victory in more than a decade in March of 2024.

"It's definitely made me more mature and a much better perspective towards golf, which at one point was everything," he said of the ups and downs of his career. 

"I have a better perspective towards, for example, a day like tomorrow."

Fox, 38, is aiming to build off his first US PGA Tour title, captured in a playoff at the Myrtle Beach Classic last month.

He launched his round with three straight birdies and had five on the front nine, bouncing back from a bogey at 11 — where he was in the water — with birdies at 12 and 18.