It last happened for Lee Westwood in 2000 when he successfully defended a title – the European Open – but the Englishman gave himself the chance to repeat the feat when he grabbed the third round lead in his defence of the MAPFRE Open de Andalucia by Valle Romano.
Twelve months ago, Westwood’s two shot victory at Aloha Golf Club was the catalyst for a revival in his fortunes which led the 34 year back in the world’s top 20 and he showed why he is a player of such stature with a scintillating third round display as hot as the Marbella sunshine.
A six under par 66 gave Westwood a one shot lead over three players; his third round partner Olly Fisher, who will again partner him in Sunday’s final round, fellow Englishman David Lynn and Thomas Levet of France with Sweden’s Peter Hedblom a further shot behind in fifth.
But although the supporting cast performed well on an enthralling afternoon in the south of Spain, the limelight fell on Westwood who looked like he was about to rewrite every record in the book when he began with five straight birdies.
The 18-time tournament winner on The European Tour International Schedule calmed down after that with birdies at the ninth and tenth being his only further gains of the day. Indeed a three putt bogey at the 11th was his last departure from par.
Although he did not break his own course record 64 set on his way to victory last year, Westwood admitted he was more than happy with his afternoon’s work.
“I got off to a very good start, gave myself a lot of uphill putts and made some birdies and I played pretty good from there on in even though I missed some chances,” he said. “But that is the nature of this golf course, it is very difficult to hole putts and a couple of greens that they’ve re-laid on the back nine have different speeds so it is tricky.
“I didn’t really set a target today. I shot 65 in the first round and so I knew I was capable of that and I thought with the conditions a little harder today it might not be such low scoring. But when you start with five birdies you are thinking of mid to low 60s really.
“I played really well even though I hit a couple of raggedy shots and I could have shot low 60s easily but if you had offered me a 66 at the start of the day I would have taken it.
“I’m in a good position, right where I want to be going into the last round. You want to be there or thereabouts and it is good to be there especially looking ahead to the Masters in a couple of weeks time, you want to feel that bit of pressure on you. We’ll see what happens tomorrow but I want to win this tournament again.”
Alongside Westwood, 19 year old Fisher showed maturity beyond his years to stay with the leader and it was particularly commendable that he did not drop a shot all day, the last of the five birdies in his 67 dropping into the hole from 40 feet on the 18th green.
“It was great to play with Lee today and I’m looking forward to it tomorrow again,” he said. “He is a real gentleman and he is also so relaxed out there that he is great to be around. That obviously helped me to play well and I played nicely today so that was good.
“I holed a nice putt there on the 18th but I just played really solid throughout the day. I played the par fives nicely and had a couple of tap-ins on those for birdies so I am just really pleased with how it has gone out there for me.
“I’ve made every cut so far this year but I have worked very hard over the last year and over the past winter months and it is starting to pay off. Hopefully I can go on tomorrow and give myself a chance of winning. One of my main goals for the year is that I would love to win a tournament.”
Into the closing stages it looked very much like Thomas Levet, Westwood’s Ryder Cup team-mate from Oakland Hills in 2004, would partner him in the final round, especially when the 39 year old Frenchman battled back from a dreadful start – which saw him two over for the round after four holes – to tie the Englishman at 12 under par for the tournament after his pitch and putt birdie four at the 16th.
But a fluffed chip at the 17th cost him a bogey four and he also failed to convert a birdie chance from five feet on the 18th after an exquisite approach shot. Nevertheless, the three time European Tour winner looked forward positively to the final day’s action.
“I am pretty pleased with my 68 today after having such a rough start, but I managed to turn it around,” he said. “I told myself there were some short holes out there and if I could hit my wedges well then things will turn around.
“Of course I could have done better, making bogey and par on the 17th and 18th was disappointing after hitting good shots in there but in the end I am only one behind and in contention going into the last round which is what I was looking for this morning.”
Making up the trio in a tie for second place was David Lynn who stormed back into contention thanks to a grandstand finish, chipping in for birdie two on the 17th and holing from eight feet for a birdie three on the 18th in his 68.
Peter Hedblom, who shared the lead at the start of the day, fell back slightly with a third round 70 but, like Lynn, he finished well, holing from 20 feet for a birdie on the 16th and pitching and putting to save par on the last.
The 38 year old from Gävle, who lost in a play-off to Arjun Atwal in Malaysia on his last European Tour outing, will have some familiar company just over his shoulder going into the final round for, incredibly, the four players who share sixth place are all his fellow Swedes; Pelle Edberg (69), Michael Jonzon (69), Alexander Noren (68) and Patrik Sjöland (68).
Further down the leaderboard, José Maria Olazábal’s recuperation from a seven month injury lay-off continued well, the two time Masters Tournament Champion carding a third round 71 for a two under par total of 214 and a share of 36th place going into the final day.
