Yurav Premlall took a stranglehold on the 2026 Estrella Damm Catalunya Championship as a stunning third-round 63 earned him a five-shot lead – and potentially a significant extra bonus.
Related: Lucas Bjerregaard in share of lead in Spain
The South African’s ten birdies, with just a solitary bogey, took him clear of the field on 19 under par and left him in position to scoop the $50,000 prize on offer for the Course Record presented by Nexo.
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Playing partner and 36-hole co-leader Stefano Mazzoli was his nearest challenger at 14 under as the day belonged to Premlall.
The World Number 598, chasing his maiden DP World Tour title, built on Friday’s bogey-free 64 with another brilliant display opening with birdies at the first two, fifth and seventh holes before recovering from a bogey at the eighth with further gains either side of the turn to move four clear.
Lucas Bjerregaard and Mazzoli briefly applied pressure, but Premlall responded each time and finished in style with birdies on his final three holes – including putts from 13 feet at the 16th and 45 feet at the 17th – to move clear at the top.
Mazzoli carded a 69 to sit second on 14 under, while Premlall’s closing birdie sealed a stunning 63 and a commanding overnight advantage.
South Africa’s JC Ritchie sat third on 12 under after finishing with three straight birdies to shoot 69. Bjerregaard and Scot David Law were both a shot further back.
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Kiradech Aphibarnrat birdied the 18th for the third straight day as he followed Friday’s 66 with a 67. The Thai, who was joined at ten under by Ricardo Gouveia and Shaun Norris, has not dropped a shot in his last 38 holes.
Lindell made the most of Moving Day with a seven-under-par 65 to reach nine under for the week. The Finn opened with two birdies and had five in a row from the eighth and though he dropped his only shot of the day at the short 13th, he birdied the 16th where he had made bogey on each of the first two days.
He was level with Dan Bradbury, Alejandro Del Rey, Eugenio Chacarra and the in-form Bernd Wiesberger for ninth place after 54 holes.
Andrew Johnston produced one of the highlights of the day with a hole-in-one at the 13th, which otherwise played as one of the toughest holes with just nine other players making birdie.
Player quotes
Yurav Premlall: “It is a bit of a blur to be honest. I mean that is generally what people say when a round like that comes to be honest. It was really nice, the last few days have been really solid golf tee to green as well, maybe not so good off the tee, but the putter has got hot over the last two days which I have been waiting for. My team, my dad have all put in a big effort to get me into this place, so it is just really rewarding to see it come through.
“(On his putting) It was just something small in my routine that we picked up. My coach gave me a drill to do that we have stuck to and you know, it’s all with feel for the putter, so I am glad that work has come through over the last few days.
“(On the course record) Not at all. It didn’t occur to me, not even when the putt on 17 went in, I didn’t know what the course record was for starters, I mean there is a bigger job on hand at the end of the day but that just happens to be a nice bonus that I can hopefully keep, so we will see.
“It is something I have been working towards since I got a card last year. Very few people know how rough it has been trying to get into this position, the work I have done to try and have a chance at winning, let alone whatever happens tomorrow happens, but just to be able to have such a good chance to get a job done is really rewarding.”
