Victor Pastor produced a brilliant six under par round of 66 and will take a two-stroke lead into the final round of the Challenge de Cadiz as he looks to secure a maiden HotelPlanner Tour title.
The Spaniard got off to a red-hot start at Iberostar Real Golf Novo Sancti Petri with four birdies in his opening five holes before a dropped shot at the ninth saw him make the turn three under for the day.
The 30-year-old carded four more birdies and a bogey coming in to move to 11 under par and in pole position on the leaderboard ahead of the final round, one clear of countryman Rocco Repetto Taylor, Frenchman Oihan Guillamoundeguy and Swede Hugo Townsend in second.
“I played very good today,” he said. “It was less windy than the first two days and I took advantage of that this morning with four early birdies. I was hitting my approaches close to the hole and my game was solid.
“I made a bogey on nine, but I bounced back well with four more birdies from 11 to 14. The last three holes were tough because the wind changed direction, and I made one mistake on 17 but then I made a great par on 18 from the bunker.
“Today I was feeling calm and confident with my game. I’ve been hitting it very well all week and my putting was solid. I’m going to give it my best shot tomorrow.”
Pastor has proven his ability at this week’s venue when he finished runner up to Jens Dantorp at the Challenge de España in 2022, but he is hoping to go one better this time around.
“It would be very special to win this event,” he said. “I only live two hours from here and I used to come here on holiday when I was younger. It’s a special venue for me and I came very close to winning here in 2022.
“I was leading after three rounds in 2022, and I gave it my best shot in the final round but unfortunately, I just came up short on that occasion. I’m looking forward to tomorrow and hopefully I can win my first event on this Tour.”
South African Justin Walters and Spaniard Mario Galiano Aguilar share fifth position on eight under par, while Norwegian Baard Skogen, Spaniard Asier Aguirre, Matthew Cheung from Hong Kong, and South Africa’s JC Ritchie are a shot further behind in seventh.
The final round of the Challenge de Cadiz will get under way at 8am local time, with Pastor teeing it up in the final group alongside Repetto Taylor and Townsend at 9:50am.
