Jeff Winther turned an extended "warm-up" into the joint-lowest round of Friday as he moved within one stroke of the lead at the 2025 Open de España presented by Madrid.
The Dane matched the 64 posted by his fellow Scandinavian Joakim Lagergren at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid as the pair reached eight under and seven under par respectively, with Marco Penge setting the pace at nine under.
Lagergren birdied five of his last six holes and Winther also finished strongly after, by his own admission, an "up-and-down" start.
He eagled the 14th, his fifth hole, to spark his round into life and added birdies at the 18th, third, fourth, seventh and eighth.
“I always tell the guys, ‘the first three’s a warm-up’ – but bloody hell, the first five was a warm-up!" joked Winther, who finished in the top 10 at last month's Amgen Irish Open and then had rounds of 63 at the FedEx Open de France, where illness curtailed his challenge, and 64 at last week's Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
“I’ve been playing some great golf lately, I’ve just not been able to put four good rounds together.
"Shot minus-eight first round last week; shot minus-eight in Paris, got sick. So I feel like it’s coming – Winther is coming!"
Lagergren's first birdie, at the 14th having started on the back nine, was immediately cancelled out at the next but two more before the turn ensured the momentum was with him.
He made four birdies in a row from the fourth and holed a closing 22-footer to reach seven under for both his round and the tournament.
“Played really well, it felt sort of effortless today," he said.
"Great off the tee - you can kind of kill some of the holes with a good drive here - some stunning approach shots and, as always wanted to hole a few more but I'll take seven under.
"I just kept hitting really good drives, long and in the fairway, so I had a lot of wedges in on par fives, took advantage of those, so it felt like some easy holes where it's maybe not. Just killed it with the driver, I guess."
Lagergren finished as the runner-up at last month's Amgen Irish Open, beaten by Rory McIlroy in a memorable play-off, and came into this week off the back of a tie for 11th place at last week's weather-affected Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
"I don't know, maybe someone will wake me up soon!" he said of his recent form.
"No, I'm playing good, for once the game feels quite easy but you should never say that because it's going to bite you. For once, it's nice to hit the shots you want and play well."
