Jon Rahm made light of the loss of his driver for much of the third round as he moved into contention at the 2024 acciona Open de España presented by Madrid.
The three-time champion shot 65 on Moving Day and will play in the final round in an all-Spanish final group with leader Angel Hidalgo – two shots ahead of Rahm on 13 under par – and close friend David Puig.
That is despite suffering damage to the longest club in his bag early on in his round and having to make do with his three wood off the tee until the repaired driver was returned to him on the back nine.
“I felt good with pretty much everything, better than any other day,” he said.
“Unfortunate situation over there on the sixth tee to not be able to go over the creek on that hole, was going to be pretty easy today, and to have to play seven into the wind with three wood. And then after that, it didn't really affect me too much.
“Maybe a couple of longer irons coming into some par-fours but at the end of the day on this course, if you put it in the fairway, you're always going to be better than hitting the driver off line.
“Did a pretty good job mitigating that, but I was happy to get the driver as quickly back as I did. I just assumed I was going to play the rest of the round without it.
“I was happy to hear the news on 12 that I was going to have it by 14. I think it might have been a little moment of happiness that gave me a boost for the rest of the round.”
Rahm, winner of his home Open in 2018, 2019 and 2022 and hailed by Hidalgo after Saturday's round as “the G.O.A.T. in this tournament”, will chase a fourth title against a pair of younger compatriots each seeking their maiden DP World Tour win.
“I'm very excited,” he said.
“I have yet to be paired with (Puig) in any tour, in any tournament. We play a lot at home and it just hasn't happened yet. I'm glad that our first time is going to be here in the final round and final group.
"I'm excited to see him in action. He's a very high-quality player and I'm excited to see Angel, as well. He's been playing really good the last few years.
“Hopefully I can end up with the win but it's definitely going to be a Sunday, atmosphere-wise, that they haven't experienced yet. There's going to be a lot of people watching and it's going to be a lot of fun.”
