Grant Forrest remains in contention for a wire-to-wire victory at the Open de España presented by Madrid after a brilliant back-nine charge saw him share the lead with Joe Dean heading into the final round at Real Club de Campo Villa de Madrid.
Related: Grant Forrest holds halfway lead in Spain
The Scot began Saturday with a one-shot advantage but slipped back after following birdies at the third and fourth with a bogey at the fifth and five consecutive pars.
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Forrest found his rhythm on the back nine, however, rolling in birdies at the 11th, 14th and 16th to reach 13 under par and join Englishman Dean at the summit.
Sheffield native Dean staged a fightback of his own, finishing with a birdie from 31 feet at the last to erase the damage of a late stumble.
Eight birdies in his first 15 holes had propelled Dean to a three-shot lead, but his advantage disappeared when he followed a double bogey at the 16th with a bogey at the 17th.
His superb finish ensured he remained alongside Forrest at 13 under, with Joel Girrbach, Victor Perez and Jacob Skov Olesen one shot further back.
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Home favourite Angel Ayora is also in the hunt, sitting three shots off the lead at ten under par after firing a five-under-par 66, with the Spanish crowds cheering him on in pursuit of a maiden DP World Tour title.
Frenchman Martin Couvra is a further shot back at nine under par.
Player quotes
Grant Forrest: I’m happy with how I handled today. 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.
Joe Dean: It gave a little bit of hope after those previous two holes. But nothing’s guaranteed in this game and it only takes a slight lapse in concentration or a bad shot and before you know it you’re chasing.
It’s nice to finish with a birdie on the last. We’ll go again and see what happens.
Victor Perez: I played really well on the front nine and missed a few chances on the back, but overall, really happy.
There is going to be a bunch of us, so it is going to be the same old, concentrate and don’t think about the outcome, make some birdies, soi same old, same old.
Obviously national opens are great and they have so much history, so it would be very good, but we are 75 percent of the way there so I don’t want to get too carried away.
Jacob Skov Olesen: It was a lot more solid than yesterday, kept the ball in play for most part and was a lot more manageable than I did yesterday. But yeah, it was a solid round, and I feel like I hit a decent amount of good shots.
I have kind of cut the amount down a little bit which was the goal. The goal was to play well and see what happened, and we managed to do so. I would have liked to get one or two more on the back nine, but it wasn’t meant to be.
It would mean a lot obviously, I think it would to everyone who is here. We are just going to try and see if we can produce something like we did today tomorrow and we will see what spot we will be in.
