Nacho Elvira will hold home hopes atop his broad Spanish shoulders entering the final round of the Challenge de Madrid as he carved out a narrow two stroke advantage, alongside Ireland’s Ruaidhri McGee, at El Encin Golf Hotel.
Hailing from his nation’s capital, the 28 year old carded four birdies and an eagle in an impressive first 11 holes to establish his advantage, and despite being caught by McGee as his hot start cooled over the closing stretch, his second 66 of the week has him ideally placed at 16 under par.
This is by no means Elvira’s first rodeo when it comes to contending for titles on the second tier, having already tasted victory at the 2013 Foshan Open en route to graduating from the season-long Rankings that year in 14th place.
That earned him a maiden berth in The Race to Dubai last campaign, and despite finishing 121st for the year to narrowly lose his playing privileges, he is excited to put everything he has learned to good use in pursuit of a famous victory on home soil.
“It was pretty good out there today, and I started well as I was four under through seven,” said Elvira, who made 21 cuts from 32 starts on The European Tour in 2014. “I was playing really well from the tees and into the green, and then on the back nine I made a birdie on ten and an eagle on 11, which was pretty good. From there I just wanted to hit a few fairways and find the greens and it worked out OK.
“I like the course, and I have been practicing here a little more recently than I used to. It fits my eye off the tee, and although there are plenty of bunkers, you just have to make sure you stay away from them. From there, you just need to find the right plateaus on the green, and I have liked it so far.
“I definitely learned a lot last year. I played a lot on the weekends, but I often didn’t play very well, and in this off-season I had a little more time than last year to get myself ready. I have worked with my trainer and my coach and I think I am on the right path, so I hope I can make it back.
“I will play as much on The European Tour as I can this year, but I will also play on the Challenge Tour, so it is going to be a long year.
“I am excited for tomorrow though, as I have my family and friends supporting me here, and it is always fun to play well on home soil. Hopefully I can play well tomorrow, and we’ll see what happens.”
Elvira will have McGee for company in the final round as the Irishman continued to play well in Madrid, despite the added pressure of playing on a medical extension in the early part of the season.
The 24 year old is as laid back as they come, seemingly unfazed by his lofty position, and if he continues to play as he has so far – having signed for a 68 on day three – then he could well upset the home support with a maiden triumph of his own on Saturday.
“I started with a good birdie at the first, which settled me down a bit, and then I just parred my way round from there,” sad McGee. “It was really boring actually, just fairways and greens, until I got to nine and made a birdie.
“The back nine was pretty similar apart from a couple more birdies, so 14 pars and four birdies was pretty solid. I definitely left a few out there, and I’m going to go now and put a little practice into my putting, and work on that for an hour or so and I should be OK.
“I just need to approach it the same as every day and see what happens. There is no point building it up to something really big, or you won’t be able to play properly, so I’ll just chill out and play it by ear.”
The closest challenger to the leading duo is Portuguese form-horse Ricardo Gouveia who not only claimed a maiden second tier title last October at the EMC Golf Challenge Open, but has since gone on to claim two further victories on home soil earlier this year.
He was fancied by many ahead of this campaign to contend for a graduating place on the Race to Oman Rankings, and thanks to a second consecutive 68 on day three, he is handily positioned just two strokes adrift to claim a victory that would put him well on his way to a top 15 spot come season’s end.
Sweden’s Sebastian Soderberg earned a maiden sojourn on the Challenge Tour thanks to an impressive year on the satellite Nordic Golf League in 2014, and he has continued that form this week, shooting a 70 on Friday to enter the final round on his own in fourth place a shot further back at 13 under.
Meanwhile a shot further back is Italian veteran Alessandro Tadini who fired a 66 to move into a share of fifth alongside Frenchman Sebastien Gros, who himself shot a 69 on Friday.
