Miguel Ángel Jiménez overhauled fellow home favourite Sergio Garcia at the top of the leaderboard as the Andalucía Masters moved towards a thrilling conclusion at Club de Golf Valderrama.
Jiménez, who climbed into a tie for second yesterday with a 68 containing two eagles, birdied the second and third holes of his final round to draw alongside overnight leader Garcia at six under.
A sloppy bogey at the fifth followed and the 47 year old, demonstrating excellent form from tee to green, was unable to convert a host of further birdie opportunities as he turned in 34.
However, he still found himself leading by one as Garcia, the winner by 11 shots at last week’s Castelló Masters and a three-time runner-up at this venue, three-putted the sixth for bogey before dropping another shot at the seventh, where he drove right before missing the green to the left and failing to get up and down.
Scotland’s Richie Ramsay was a shot behind Garcia, having mixed birdies at the fourth and eighth with bogeys at the third and ninth.
He was followed by Steve Webster on two under, with Grégory Havret and Shane Lowry also in red figures.
Sweden’s Christian Nilsson began the day on the same score as Jiménez, but slipped out of contention courtesy of a front-nine 39 containing five bogeys.
Both Jiménez and Garcia are looking to become the first Spanish winners of a strokeplay event at Valderrama.
