October 03-06
Club de Campo Villa de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
€1,500,000
Live leaderboard
Round 2, Round 3, Round 4

Adri Arnaus leads the home charge at the Mutuactivos Open de España, but sits two strokes behind Norway's Kristian Krogh Johannessen, who carded an eight under par 63 to lead at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid.

Johannessen, who started the day on the tenth tee, made the turn four under par after three birdies and an eagle, dropping his only shot of the day on the par four 16 th hole, and made four more gains on the front nine, including a birdie on the ninth hole to reach eight under par.

“I'm out there having fun and playing smart. It's a tricky course, but I've got a friend on the bag this week and we're having fun out there.

“It was a good round. I didn't hit it perfectly, but hit it in the right spots, even when I missed and I holed some good putts. I just need to keep calm, play my own game and not get stressed out there. It's a bit tricky, so if you get stressed you start easily making mistakes. I just need to keep cool and play my own game.”

Arnaus is one of five home hopefuls inside the top ten in the Spanish capital, carding a six under par round of 65 to take solo second. He made the turn at six under par after four birdies and an eagle on his front nine, and finished his round with a birdie on the ninth hole to cancel out a bogey on the fourth.

“It was such a fun round out there with the crowds following. I was really happy with how I played out there, especially the front nine – that was a lot of fun. I was happy to finish with a birdie on the ninth.

“I was six under through nine and finished birdie-birdie-birdie on my last holes on my front nine. That was amazing. I kept it going, but some of my putts on my back nine didn't want to drop, but it finally dropped on the last, so I was really happy.”

The 24-year-old, who graduated from the European Challenge Tour last season, is making just his second appearance in his national Open and has enjoyed a fine rookie year on the European Tour, with three runner-up finishes in 2019.

Defending champion and World Number Five Jon Rahm shares third place with compatriot Rafa Cabrera Bello and four other golfers on five under par. While one shot further back is Spanish pair Samuel Del Val and Adrian Otaegui, who carded four under par rounds of 67, sharing ninth with seven others.

“It's a tough golf course, you need to drive it well - and I did," said Rahm. "The greens were perfect, they are the best greens I've putted on in Spain in my career as an amateur and as a pro. Me, Rafa and Adri played really well, especially on that front nine Adri got it going really well and me and Rafa were trying to catch up.

“My biggest challenge early on, and the reason I missed so many putts, is because I was trying to get the pace of the greens. They were so fast. I was getting used to the speed and the changes from last week to this week. Yesterday I did struggle with ball striking, but I fixed it and stayed committed to the changes I made.”

“We all got it going and once we made the turn, everyone was there. Every time you're hitting shots, even if you're missing, you're getting a lot of words of encouragement.”