Tournament host Sergio Garcia will take a slender lead into the final round of the Andalucia Valderrama Masters as he seeks a sixth victory on home soil.
On the day that he was awarded Honorary Life Membership of the European Tour, Garcia carded a third round of 68 to finish eight under par, a shot ahead of England’s Daniel Brooks.
Brooks carded a superb 64 to end the day a shot in front of halfway leader Joost Luiten, who could only manage a 71, with Welshman Jamie Donaldson and Scotland’s Scott Jamieson a shot further back on five under.
Ireland’s Shane Lowry is six shots off the pace after carding a double bogey on the 18th for the second day in succession.
“I got off to a great start with a couple of birdies – almost three birdies in a row – and then unfortunately missed a couple of shots and made a couple of bogeys, but I stayed patient,” Masters champion Garcia said.
“It would be an amazing achievement [to win] but it’s still a long day to come. I can’t get too much ahead of myself.”
Brooks was threatening Bernhard Langer’s course record of 62 when he raced to the turn in 30 and also birdied the 10th, 11th and 15th, but bogeyed two of the last three holes.
“It was good fun out there, I hit a lot of good shots,” Brooks told Sky Sports. “I’ve been playing some great golf all week and I’ve made a lot of birdies.
“I had seven birdies each round the first two days and just let it slip a bit. As soon as you start missing a couple of shots, you hit a few trees and your head starts to go all over the place. Today was a lot calmer for me and kept it in play.”
Brooks began the week 123rd in the Race to Dubai, with only the top 100 on Sunday evening keeping their card for next season.
“I knew I needed a good week,” the 30-year-old added. “If you have a good one, great, if not then Tour school in a few weeks’ time – it’s not the end of the world.
“But I’ve got myself in a good position now and hopefully I can have a good day tomorrow.”
Lowry carded a two-under 69 after his double-bogey on the closing hole and is in a tie for seventh position.
Pádraig Harrington also carded a 69 and is in a tie for 21st position on one over going into the final round.
VALDERRAMA SCOREBOARD
(British and Irish unless stated, par 71; (a) denotes amateurs)
205 Sergio Garcia (Spa) 66 71 68
206 Daniel Brooks 70 72 64
207 Joost Luiten (Ned) 66 70 71
208 Jamie Donaldson 73 67 68, Scott Jamieson 69 68 71
210 Wade Ormsby (Aus) 73 70 67
211 Ricardo Gouveia (Por) 69 70 72, Robert Rock 67 70 74, Julian Suri (USA) 73 73 65, Anders Hansen (Den) 70 70 71, Shane Lowry 72 70 69
212 Peter Hanson (Swe) 69 75 68, Matt Wallace 71 72 69, Matteo Manassero (Ita) 70 74 68
213 Andrew Johnston 69 71 73, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 72 71 70, Daniel Willett 70 72 71, Robert Dinwiddie 71 71 71, Bernd Ritthammer (Ger) 75 68 70, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 67 73 73
214 Richard Bland 70 71 73, Jens Fahrbring (Swe) 73 71 70, Paul Waring 71 72 71, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 71 70 73, Lee Slattery 72 71 71, Jose-Filipe Lima (Por) 72 72 70, Sebastian Soderberg (Swe) 73 69 72, Chris Hanson 72 74 68, Richard Finch 69 73 72, Adrian Otaegui (Spa) 71 71 72, Nino Bertasio (Ita) 74 71 69, Pádraig Harrington 72 73 69
215 Ben Evans 69 69 77, Ashley Chesters 72 74 69, Thomas Detry (Bel) 72 72 71, Paul Peterson (USA) 68 72 75, Aaron Rai 70 74 71, Oliver Fisher 72 73 70
216 Martin Kaymer (Ger) 70 72 74, Justin Walters (Rsa) 71 74 71, Alfie Plant 70 72 74, James Morrison 69 74 73, Florian Fritsch (Ger) 71 75 70
217 Lasse Jensen (Den) 70 74 73, Damien Perrier (Fra) 74 72 71, Ashun Wu (Chn) 72 71 74, Renato Paratore (Ita) 77 68 72, Jason Scrivener (Aus) 70 75 72, Andy Sullivan 71 72 74, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 72 70 75, Bradley Dredge 73 73 71
218 Jorge Campillo (Spa) 73 73 72, Austin Connelly (Can) 73 69 76, Pep Angles (Spa) 75 69 74, Zander Lombard (Rsa) 75 71 72
220 Anton Karlsson (Swe) 73 72 75, Oliver Wilson 69 70 81, Carlos Pigem (Spa) 73 73 74
221 Andres Romero (Arg) 71 75 75, Connor Syme 75 70 76, Sean Crocker (USA) 73 73 75, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 69 71 81
222 Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 70 76 76, Mark Foster 73 72 77
225 Alexander Knappe (Ger) 74 72 79
