After a testing day on the blustery El Saler course, Darren Clarke still shares the lead after the third round of the Spanish Open.
Clarke was unable to produce the torrent of birdies that marked his opening two rounds.Instead he had to settle for a battling level par round which ended with a birdie on the final hole.
The Tyroneman collected two more birdies on the fourth and 11th but they were cancelled out by bogies on the first, sixth and 12th holes.
Robert Karlsson shares the lead with Clarke on nine-under par. However, the Swede may have commanded the lead on his own had he not bogied the final two holes.The 1999 Belgium Open winner had to settle for a one-under par 71.
Denmark’s Soren Hansen is in third on seven-under after shooting 70, while home favourite Miguel Angel Jimenez and Sweden’s Carl Pettersson are one shot further back in fourth.
Des Smyth, the only other Irish player to make the halfway cut, shot a disappointing 75 to drop back to one-over for the tournament.