Nacho Elvira has form Scottish golfers Robert McIntyre and Richie Ramsay breathing down his neck after a dodgy finish to his third round.
Nacho was three shots clear standing on the 18th tee, but a nervy six has brought others right back into contention.
The Spaniard double bogeyed the final hole to see his lead reduced to a single stroke ahead of the final round of Made in HimmerLand.
Apart from the final hole wobble, the golf was pretty sparkling from the leader.
The Spaniard posted a four under par round of 66 to retain the lead on 13 under, but he had held a commanding three stroke lead stood on the 18th tee before seeing his drive find the water, meaning playing partner Robert MacIntyre, of Scotland, will start the final round just one back on 12 under par.
Unfortunately, there is no Irish representation this weekend after our sole contender this week, John Murphy, disappointingly missed the cut.
With the sun beating down on HimmerLand, scoring proved to be much more fruitful than the opening two days and Elvira started perfectly with a birdie at the first to increase his lead to two. Further gains followed at the fifth and eighth to make the turn at three under, before his first dropped shot of the day arrived at the par three tenth.
The 36-year-old bounced back with a birdie at the next hole and he built a commanding position with birdies at the 13th, 14th and 16th before the closing double bogey set the scene for a thrilling final round as he goes in search of his second DP World Tour title.
MacIntyre mixed two bogeys with six birdies to also post a round of 66, and he’s closely followed by countryman Richie Ramsay in third on 11 under par after the 40-year-old posted a round of 65.
Two shots separate Ramsay and fellow Scotsman Marc Warren, who shares fourth place with Daan Huizing, of the Netherlands, on nine under. Paraguay’s Fabrizio Zanotti and Australian David Micheluzzi form part of a five-way tie for sixth after both posting eight under par rounds of 62.
Speaking after his round, Elvira was pretty happy overall.
He said: “I did play really well. To be honest, the 18th tee shot is a not a hole you want to be waiting 25 minutes but it was a bad swing and I can take a bad swing. It’s okay, it’s a good round of golf.
“I haven’t been putting great this season and it seems this week, it’s working out my way. I’m hitting it really well so I’m leaving myself closer chances for birdie, which helps a lot. I’m very pleased with my putting.
“Pablo is doing great, Campillo won at the start of the year, Jon Rahm is doing great. I think it’s an inspiration for everybody but, at the end of the day, we’ve got to play for ourselves and hopefully I can stick to my game, play as good as I can and putt as good as I can.”
His closest challenger one shot behind, MacIntyre, said: “I made a few mistakes but you know what, when you’re out in the final group on a Saturday it’s just about staying in the fight. We were going toe-to-toe for a while, it felt like 2019 against Bernd again, but I’m in a good position going into tomorrow and that’s all we can look for.
“It’s good. There’s been a lot going on within my team, with all the changes, this week I’ve gone back to what’s worked for the season. I’m driving the ball beautifully, I just feel so free being able to stand up there and let it rip. When I’m playing my best, that’s what I’m doing with my driver and it’s feeling good.
“I’ll need to reapply the factor 50. I’m prepared well, I’m doing everything right before the round, Greg’s doing the right stuff before the round to help me get ready for it and on the course he’s doing a great job. It’s been a good combo so far so tomorrow we’ll just go out there and play golf and hopefully it falls my way.”
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