Shane Lowry rallied to a four-under third round at the Open de Espana on Saturday, fighting his way up the leaderboard for a share of 17th heading into the final round.
The Irish Open champion started the day at Real Club de Campo Villa de Madrid with a bogey on the par-four first, recovering with an eagle on the fourth to go one-under for the day. He managed two birdies either side of the turn, with a bogey on par-five 14th to sign for a round of 67.
It left him eight shots off the joint leaders, Scotland’s Grant Forrest and England’s Joe Dean, who sit one shot ahead of the trio tied for third on 12-under – Victor Perez, Jacob Skov Olesen and Joel Girrbach.
Forrest began the day with a one-shot advantage but slipped down the leaderboard after bogeying the fifth hole. But birdies at the 11th, 14th and 16th gave the Scot a four-under round of 67.
READ MORE
“I’m happy with how I handled today,” said Forrest after his round. “I didn’t have my best stuff but I’m really proud of how I dug in and made some nice putts, a couple of good recovery shots, and all in all a decent score again.
“This is one of my favourite tournaments, it’s been good to me in the past, and I’d love nothing more than to go home with a trophy tomorrow.”
Dean, meanwhile, will feel he could have produced an even better outcome than his round of 65.
He followed five birdies on the front nine with three more on the 12th, 14th and 15th to open up a three-shot lead, but the 32-year-old then double-bogeyed the 16th and dropped another shot on the 17th before finishing on a high with a 31-foot putt for birdie on the last.
“It gave a little bit of hope after those previous two holes,” said Dean. “We’ll go again and see what happens.”
