Grant Forrest & Joe Dean Share Lead Heading into Final Round of Open de España

• Grant Forrest and Joe Dean share the lead after three rounds of the Open de España.
• Joel Girrbach, Victor Perez and Jacob Skov Olesen are one shot back.
• Forrest is chasing his third DP World Tour title and a wire-to-wire victory.

Grant Forrest’s bid for a wire-to-wire victory at the Open de España presented by Madrid survived a wobbly middle section on Saturday, and the Scot will take a share of the lead into the final round alongside Englishman Joe Dean on 13-under par.

Joel Girrbach, Victor Perez and Jacob Skov Olesen lurk a shot behind on 12-under, so Sunday promises a crowded finish in the Spanish capital, where Jon Rahm closed with a 62 to win his third Spanish Open in 2022.

How did Forrest hang on?

Forrest shared the first-round lead and went one clear on his own on Friday, but he was caught at the summit early on day three after opening with back-to-back pars.

He responded with a birdie from 14 feet at the 3rd and another from close range at the 4th to move two shots ahead. That was as good as the front nine got. He gave a shot straight back at the 5th and then made five pars in favourable scoring conditions, sliding down the leaderboard as others took advantage.

A 32-foot birdie at the short 11th cut his arrears to two, and although he picked up another shot at the 14th, he was by then three behind a rampant Dean.

Forrest then holed from 20 feet for birdie on the 16th and made a fine par save from 11 feet at the 17th to edge a shot clear, before Dean’s late intervention.

“I’m happy with how I handled today,” said Forrest. “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’s rollercoaster

For 15 holes, the Sheffield native looked as though he might run away with the tournament. Eight birdies took him three shots clear at the top.

Then came the wobble. A double bogey at the 16th and a bogey at the 17th wiped out his advantage entirely and handed Forrest the outright lead.

Dean had the final word, rolling in a 31-foot birdie at the last to draw level on 13-under.

“It gave a little bit of hope after those previous two holes,” said Dean. “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.”

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