Open de España presented by Madrid - Day three digest

A broken club could not stop Marco Penge's charge while Dan Bradbury and John Parry hit aces and David Micheluzzi met his hero on Moving Day at the 2025 Open de España presented by Madrid.

Here is everything you need to know from Saturday's action at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid.

Penge's sacrifice

Leader Marco Penge left himself tucked behind a tree at the second hole and knew immediately he needed a sacrificial lamb. While the Englishman, leading the tournament on his own at the time, salvaged an impressive par it came at the cost of breaking his pitching wedge. "My ball was just behind the tree, I didn't really have a follow-through - I knew it was going to break," he admitted. "I kind of picked a club I didn't think I was going to need the rest of the way. I just made sure not to hit my hand on the tree and, yeah, poor pitching wedge." As he suggested, the club was barely missed the rest of the way as a run of eight birdies in ten holes from the seventh took Penge four clear at the end of the day.

Birthday boy Brown

Englishman Dan Brown marked his 31st birthday on Saturday... in extremely low-key fashion. "(I've done) absolutely nothing, and I probably won't do anything either - I'm trying to pretend I'm still 30!" he said in an on-course interview, before revealing he had treated himself earlier in the week to a Real Madrid shirt with fellow countryman Jude Bellingham's name and number five on the back. A round of 67 and a share of third place may have been the best present of all - many happy returns Dan!

Ullo John! Gotta New Motor?

John Parry earned himself a brand new BMW iX3 worth approximately 90,000 euros with a superb hole in one at the 17th hole - one of the most valuable eight irons the Englishman will have ever hit. “Amazing," he said. "And it’s better when you get to win a car as well, that makes it a little bit better!”

Compatriot Dan Bradbury soon matched his ace - though at the ninth hole, where no additional prize was on offer.

Back next year?

Several players will have next season's tour cards on their minds going into Sunday, with the top 115 on the Race to Dubai Rankings assured of their places. Second-placed Joel Girrbach has surely done enough - his current position would lift him 67 places to 42nd, comfortably inside the 70 places in the end-of-season DP World Tour Play-offs - but he said: “I came here, I knew I was fighting for my card for next year, so I think that’s still the main goal.” Alexander Levy and Bernd Wiesberger, both inside this week's top ten at nine under par, stand to climb to 133rd and 109th respectively and will be looking to gain places to make their status more comfortable while Alex Fitzpatrick, currently on the bubble in 114th, is seven under and would climb to 100th as it stands.

McKibbin holes monster

In a congested leaderboard behind Penge, with three shots covering the rest of the top ten, Northern Ireland's Tom McKibbin stands alone in fifth at ten under par. The pick of his six birdies on Saturday came courtesy of this 40-foot putt at the 16th.

Reed welcomes next generation

Patrick Reed, tied with Brown on 11 under, admitted it will be difficult to put pressure on Penge on Sunday. The American was impressed by the enthusiasm of the young fans at Club de Campo and said: “Oh man, I love it. I love the golf course, love the event, I love the turnout and I love especially how many kids come out, it’s awesome to see how many kids are out here watching golf. That’s what it’s all about – growing the game of golf, the easiest way to do that is get the kids involved and have the kids love it. There’s so many out there and it’s awesome, I wish more events were like that. After every round, you don’t have any gloves left, you definitely don’t have any golf balls left and if it was up to them, they’d take everything you got!”

Never meet your heroes?

That is what they say, but David Micheluzzi dismissed the suggestion after an unforgettable day alongside his dream playing partner Jon Rahm in the three-time champion's home town. Asked to sum up the experience, the Australian said: “I don’t think I can, to be honest. To play with somebody like Jon Rahm, at a Spanish Open, is probably something I’ll never forget. I was fortunate enough to play with Adam Scott at an Aussie Open, I thought that couldn’t get any cooler, but this is up there. Let’s just say I was not feeling the greatest on the first tee! But it’s been great, Jon was great, a great guy, he was a joy to play with. People say ‘never meet your heroes’, but I was kind of glad!”