Monday 22 October 2018 13:56, UK
Sergio Garcia produced a stunning finish to his second round to roar four shots clear as the Andalucia Valderrama Masters was reduced to a 54-hole event.
The thunderstorms that have ravaged the tournament returned to cause another suspension of play early on day three, forcing organisers to abandon hope of completing 72 holes before the close of play on Sunday.
Garcia did not even begin his second round until lunchtime on Saturday, but the numerous hold-ups did not affect the home favourite as he plotted his way serenely around one of his favourite tracks to card a bogey-free 65, opening up a four-stroke advantage with four birdies over the closing five holes.
The Ryder Cup record-breaker, who pipped Joost Luiten to the title last year while also winning the previous edition by a shot from Miguel Angel Jimenez in 2011, put himself in pole position to complete a notable hat-trick on home soil, with first-round leader Ashley Chesters leading the chase on six under.
Garcia delighted his army of fans with a chip-in for birdie from just off the back of the green at the second, and he rolled in a 15-foot putt for another gain at the next before compiling seven straight pars - a run which he broke with a birdie at the long 11th.
The Spaniard added another at 14 and converted further chances from inside 10 feet at the 16th and 17th before finishing in style with a measured approach to four feet at the last which set-up his seventh birdie of the round.
Garcia's flying finish lifted him to 10 under and comfortably clear of Chesters, whose uneventful 70 contained 17 pars and just one birdie at the fourth, while Marc Warren and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano remained hopeful of retaining their European Tour cards for next season.
Warren was four under overnight having completed nine holes of his second round on Friday, and the Scot then mixed three birdies with as many bogeys in an erratic front-nine to return a 69 which proved good enough to end the day in a share of third with Fernandez-Castano and Alvaro Quiros.
Fernandez-Castano resumed on the 17th and two-putted for birdie, and he would go on to card a 68 while Quiros, who caddied for his compatriot at Qualifying School in 2017, fired a 70 to end the day six adrift of Garcia.
Lee Westwood, who has his 17-year-old son Sam on his bag this week, vaulted to five under with his sixth birdie of the round at the 17th, but he pulled his drive into trouble at the last and hit a tree branch with his ambitious escape attempt - mistakes which led to a double-bogey six that took the gloss off his 68.
Westwood's sloppy finish saw him slip to three under alongside Shane Lowry, who missed a series of birdie chances in a frustrating 70, but it will be a nervy final day for a number of players battling to end the regular season in the top 116 and avoid the daunting trip to the Final Stage of Qualifying School.
But former BMW PGA champion and four-time European Tour winner Matteo Manassero will have to tee it up at Lumine next month after the Italian, currently 118th in the Race to Dubai, added a 72 to his opening 76 to close on six over - two shots too many to make the cut.
