Miguel Ángel Jiménez picked up two early birdies in his final round to join fellow Spaniard Sergio Garcia at the top of the leaderboard in the Andalucía Masters at Club de Golf Valderrama.
Jiménez, who moved into a tie for second yesterday with a 68 containing two eagles, made gains at the second and third holes to reach six under for the tournament.
He and Garcia - each looking to become the first Spanish winners of a strokeplay event at this venue - held a four-shot advantage at the summit after Sweden’s Christian Nilsson started with back-to-back bogeys and Richie Ramsay dropped a shot at the second.
Garcia, the champion at last week’s Castelló Masters and a three-time runner-up at Valderrama, made a steady start today with three opening pars.
Also in red figures were Ireland’s Shane Lowry, who birdied the third, fourth and fifth to join Nilsson and Ramsay on two under, and England’s Steve Webster.
France’s Raphaël Jacquelin moved to level par with birdies at the first, second and fourth holes.
Another Spaniard, Rafael Cabrera-Bello, also made good progress, picking up four shots in an outward 31 that lifted him to two over for the tournament.
Veteran Welshman Stephen Dodd, 144th in the Race to Dubai, turned in 32 to reach the same score as Cabrera-Bello. He then birdied the tenth, before carding a first bogey at the next hole.
