Padraig Harrington birdied four of the last six holes at Club de Campo to stretch his lead to four strokes going into the final round of the BBVA Open Turespana Masters Comunidad de Madrid. The Irishman shot a five under par 66 for a 16 under par total of 197 to open up a commanding lead over Spaniards Miguel Angel Jimenez and Santiago Luna.
The 29 year old Harrington won his first tournament over the same Madrid course in his rookie season as a professional back in 1996, and it took him until March of this year to add a second title when he won the Brazil Sao Paulo 500 Years Open.
However he was cruelly deprived of the opportunity to contest the Benson and Hedges International Open in May when he carried a five stroke lead into the last day. On that occasion he was disqualified after it was discovered that he had not signed his first round scorecard.
Ever since that moment, Harrington – who had admitted he was mentally scarred by that mistake - has made sure he has not committed the same offence by signing his card twice.
"As soon as my marker passes me my card I sign it. Then I check the figures, then I sign it again," said the Ryder Cup player after covering the back nine in a five under par 30 for the second day running.
Jimenez, chasing a third successive victory in the event after two victories in his home town of Malaga in 1998 and 1999, moved ahead of Harrington on the outward half and was still one in front with six to play.
But then Harrington struck an eight-iron to six feet on the 13th, hit the flag with his wedge into the long 14th and holed from 20 and eight feet for further birdies at the 16th and 17th.
After missing the green and chipping 10 feet past on the 349-yard last, he made that as well for his fourth birdie in the space of six holes.
He added: "I hit two incredibly bad putts earlier on and my concentration was not good, but I putted well after that. It's hard to stay confident and come back after a few misses, so I'm really happy to be in the position I am."
Jimenez and Luna are the closest rivals to Harrington with one round to play while South African Roger Wessels and Swede Per-Ulrik Johansson are one shot further back and not out of contention.
Third round video highlights
Final round tee-times
