Shane Lowry overcame a sluggish start to card a three-under 68 that saw him climb into a tie for 14th at the acciona Open de España in Madrid but a home winner is a near guarantee.
The Offaly man was without a birdie in his opening 18 holes, but turned the tables to go bogey-free on day two and leap from well outside the cutline and make it through to the weekend. But the third round was a mix of the two, as he made three bogeys and a birdie in his first six holes, then made five birdies in the following dozen holes to move to -4 overall and climb to T14 on the leaderboard.
But it’s all about the Spaniards at the business end of the leaderboard, and Angel Hidalgo will take a two-shot lead into the final round as he produced a 68 on day three at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid.
The home favourite has led the way since carding an opening 65 in the Spanish capital and produced a confident display of front-running to get to 13 under after 54 holes.
Hidalgo is still looking for a maiden win on the DP World Tour and will be paired in an all-Spanish final group tomorrow alongside two-time Major Champion Jon Rahm and compatriot David Puig.
Rahm, a three-time winner of his national open in 2018, 2019 and 2022, played much of the round without his damaged driver but birdied two of the last three holes to reach 11 under, with Puig a further shot back as both carded 65s.
The 29-year-old equalled the late, great Seve Ballesteros’ record of three Open de España titles with his victory at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid in 2022, the same venue of Ballesteros’ 50th and final European Tour (now DP World Tour) win, and will once again have another shot at history in front of the adoring Spanish crowds tomorrow in Madrid.
“Well, first it was tough,” Hidalgo said after his round. “Definitely when I heard my name again, I thought it was a few more crowd. I was a little bit nervous and I didn’t hit my best driver. But that chip gave me a lot of confidence.
“I played good. I missed a few shots to the right yesterday. I felt my clubs was heavy today. But it’s true, after the short putt I missed on 12, I played great golf, I think. Three-under in the back part of the course is pretty good. I’m pretty happy.
“Sounds pretty good. The match will be really good. I know really good David. I played with him when I was young. Yeah, with Jon, what can I say? He’s the G.O.A.T. in this tournament. I don’t know how many times he won, like three times or four times, I don’t know. Yeah, pretty happy. I can’t wait to arrive to the first tee tomorrow.”
Despite the two-stroke deficit, Rahm will be the favourite when the trio lock horns in the final round.
“Overall, very good day,” the two-time major winner said. “I felt good with pretty much everything. Felt better than any other day. Felt stronger. Unfortunate situation over there on the sixth tee to have to — to not be able to go over the creek on that hole, was going to be pretty easy today, and to have to play seven into the wind with 3-wood.
“And then after that, it didn’t really affect me too much. Maybe a couple longer irons coming into some par fours. But at the end of the day on this course, if you put it in the fairway, you’re always going to be better than hitting the driver off line. Did a pretty good job mitigating that.
“But I was happy to get the driver as quickly back as I did. I just assumed I was going to play the rest of the round without it. I was happy to hear the news on 12 that I was going to have it by 14. I think it might have been what — I don’t know, just a little moment of happiness that gave me a little boost for the rest of the round.
“I’m very excited. I have yet to be paired with them in any tour in any tournament. We play a lot at home and it just hasn’t happened yet. I’m glad that our first time is going to be here in the final round and final group.”
England’s Joe Dean and American Patrick Reed share fourth place at eight under, with Sweden’s Jens Fahrbring and another Spaniard in Adri Arnaus a shot further back.
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