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Sergio Garcia takes control with a 66
Tournament host Sergio Garcia takes a four-shot lead into Sunday’s Castello Masters final round on his home Castellon course, looking for his first European Tour title for more than three years.
A stunning front nine with five birdies, four in succession including a chip-in from a bunker, helped the 28-year-old Spaniard to record a five-under 66 and left him firmly in control on 16-under-par 197.
Four players share second spot on 12 under—Britons David Lynn (68) and Simon Dyson (68), Swede Peter Hedblom (68) and Denmark’s Soren Kjeldsen (70).
Garcia was delighted with his front-nine assault but admitted nerves had taken over after the turn.
“I played great from five to eight, the chip in at the fifth was a little bonus,” Garcia told reporters.
“Unfortunately I put a bad swing on the ball on 10 and dropped a shot and that rattled me a little bit, I got a little bit nervous and I dropped another. But then I came back well with three more birdies.”
A victory would be Garcia’s first on the European Tour since the September 2005 European Masters.
“I’ve been close to winning in Europe a few times since 2005 but unfortunately it hasn’t happened, so I’m looking forward to doing it this time and at home would be great.
“If I keep playing aggressively, like my normal self, I should do it.”
Lynn, Hedblom and Dyson are all playing for places in next week’s lucrative season-ending Volvo Masters.
Double U.S. Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal was encouraged by his run of four birdies in five holes after the turn as he compiled his best three-round total for two years with a 67 that took him eight under and into 13th place.
However, the 42-year-old Spaniard, recovering from a 2007 season blighted by rheumatism and just back from a three-month layoff caused by the effects of medication, said he still had a long way to go to get back to the standard that he hoped would earn him a 2010 Ryder Cup place.
“My front nine today was the same as the first two days, hitting shots nowhere near the flag, but my back nine was much better and I set up quite a few birdie chances,” Olazabal told Reuters.
“Looking at the future, though, I have to improve on my ball striking.”
Olazabal will begin his 2009 European Tour campaign in the second event on the calendar, the Nov. 20-23 Hong Kong Open, which he won in 2002.
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