By Matt Smith
Adrian Otaegui gave the home fans hope of a Spanish victory at the Andalucía Masters as he leads by six strokes going into Sunday’s final round at Valderrama.
The Dubai-based 29-year-old carded a third-round 64 on Saturday to reach 16-under, with countryman Angel Hidalgo and Swede Joakim Lagergren his nearest challengers on 10-under.
Otaegui could create a bit of history as victory would mean he would become the first player to have competed on the LIV Golf series to claim a DP World Tour title — he played on three LIV events at London, Portland and Boston.
Australia’s Min Woo Lee was another shot back in fourth, two ahead of fifth-placed Robert MacIntyre of Scotland.
“I’m very happy, everything went perfectly today,” said Otaegui. “I putted well, I felt very comfortable. The crowds were pushing amazingly, so that was unbelievable.
“I had a very good start with a nice birdie on the second and then three birdies in a row at four, five, six and that gave me a bit of momentum. I felt good on the course, tried to enjoy it, tried to stay focused. I missed a couple of birdie putts at the beginning of the front nine but finished with three good birdies.
“I’ve been trying to just play Valderrama. Be on the fairway, be on the green on the good side, and the ball was going where I wanted it to go. There are not many different ways to play Valderrama, other courses you can play holes a lot of different ways and still make a birdie. At Valderrama you need to play the good sides, so that was the key.”
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