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

Jon Rahm will attempt to become the first person to defend the Mutuactivos Open de España in nearly 70 years when he takes a five-stroke lead into the final round at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid.

A blistering back nine, which included five birdies and an eagle, saw the World Number Five card an incredible round of 63, as he bids to become the first player to win back-to-back Open de España titles since Max Faulkner in 1953.

“ Everything was really calm for the most part, until that ball went in on 16. I was focused on what I had to do. You need to put it in the fairway, where you can have some wood shots and be aggressive. I kept getting good numbers and hitting the right shots. Beside the birdie putt on ten, the others were inside six feet, it was a case of good ball striking and making the short putts I had.

“I've never teed off with such a lead. It's always been a one-shot lead or tied for the lead, so it'll be a different story. I don't know what the challenge will be. I have a really good chance to defend this title. I'm feeling good, I'll keep doing what I'm doing, hitting it good off the tee and hitting good iron shots and it will take care of itself.”

The 24-year-old sent the home fans into raptures with his eagle on the 16th hole, holing out from 125 yards to move to 17 under par.

The four-time European Tour winner starts five stokes ahead of compatriots Rafa Cabrera Bello, chasing his first victory since 2017, and World Number 1,413 Samuel Del Val, who is making his first European Tour start since the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucia Valderrama Masters hosted by the Sergio Garcia Foundation. The pair are 12 under par after third rounds of 70 and 69 respectively.

"It's been difficult," said Cabrera Bello. "I didn't get off to an ideal start, I missed two short ones in a row on one and two – that broke a little bit of my confidence on the greens. I tried to get it back but didn't generate momentum, for example after the birdie on six. A bit more tight on the greens, not as much flow and struggled to get the ball to the hole. I still managed to shoot under par, which was not easy today. The wind was gusty also – there were a couple of situations where it was hard to commit.

“I'll try and play the way I've been playing – the first two days I played great. I need more momentum on the greens, but that's hard to plan. I'll practice now try to get a bit more flow on my stroke and get the ball to the hole and see if they drop. Five shots is a big gap, but you never know.”

In fourth is Sweden's Jens Dantorp, who carded a six under par round of 65 for an 11 under par total. While in fifth place is home hopeful Adri Arnaus, South African Zander Lombard and Australia's Jason Scrivener on ten under par.