Pep Angles shot the round of the day at the Challenge de Madrid to rise to the top of the leaderboard on moving day at Real Club de Golf La Herrería on the European Challenge Tour.
The Spaniard signed for a three under par 67 in difficult conditions in his country's capital, picking up two birdies in his last three holes to reach five under par after three rounds.
The 23 year old, who finished tied for 19th place at the Real Club Valderrama Open de España, Hosted by the Sergio Garcia Foundation at Valderrama on the European Tour earlier this month, made five birdies to seal a one shot lead.
Now the Barcelona-born player is hoping to convert his good form into a maiden Challenge Tour victory on his first appearance on the 2016 Road to Oman.
“I worked really hard for my score today and I am very happy with it,” he said. “It was really tricky because of the wind.”
“It has been crazy. It kept changing and over four holes the wind changed from around 15 miles per hour to just four. But it was a good grind out there and I worked for my score.
“I didn’t really do anything differently from the first two days. It was like a different course with the changing wind – before on number ten I was hitting seven irons but today I used a four iron. But I stuck with the same game plan and the same mentality.
“Everything worked well today. I was hitting my long irons well and my putting was terrific too – I stroked the ball perfectly in the wind.
“Tomorrow I will keep on going as I am in really good form at the moment. Hopefully that will put me in a position where I have a great chance of winning. After Valderrama I am relaxed and confident so we will see what happens.”
One shot adrift of the Spaniard is England’s Chris Hanson whose one under par 69 took him to four under par after 54 holes where he is joined by four other players.
England’s Ben Stow is two back after carding a one under par 69, where he joins Scotland’s David Law on three under par overall.
On a day where only seven players shot under par scores, Madrid-born Carlos Balmaseda used his home advantage to sign for a two under par 68.
