Ignacio Garrido holds on to a three shot lead

Ignacio Garrido, without a victory since the 2003 PGA Championship at Wentworth, will take a three-shot lead over fellow countryman Miguel Angel Jimenez into the Spanish Open final round.

Spaniard Garrido’s level-par 72 on Saturday gave him a 15-under 201 aggregate while Jimenez surged into contention with a 67 at the Real Club.

Paraguayan outsider Marco Ruiz (69), experienced Dane Soren Hansen (67) and Britain’s Mark Foster (68) were a further stroke back on 205.

Sunday could develop into a shootout between the two former Ryder Cup Spaniards, who will play together in the last group, but Garrido said he was not looking at it as a head-to-head battle for the title.

“This is not tennis and it’s not me against Miguel Angel,” Garrido told Reuters. “He’s a great friend and the local favourite so it will be good for the crowd but really it is us against the course.

“I was happy with the way I battled today. I didn’t take my chances on the front nine and lost concentration a couple of times on the back nine.”

It appeared Garrido would keep the four-shot advantage earned with a course record 63 in the second round. He spoiled his day though by missing a three-foot putt for par at the last.

“I was a bit tense with my second putt on the last and paid for it,” said the 36-year-old from Madrid, who went into this tournament having missed six out of seven cuts.

After his spectacular display on Friday, Garrido was far more sedate on Saturday as he mixed two birdies with two bogeys.

Jimenez was in dazzling form on the greens, taking only 28 putts.

“I putted well, especially to save par on the last two holes, which was very important,” he said.

“I am playing well tee to green. Ignacio is playing well too so tomorrow is going to be interesting but it’s not just between the two of us.”

Jimenez, who claimed his 14th European Tour win at the Hong Kong Open in November and finished eighth at last month’s U.S. Masters, will prove a tough opponent for Garrido.

The 44-year-old from Malaga also has four previous victories to his name in Spain.

201 Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 66 63 72

204 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 70 67 67

205 Marco Ruiz (Par) 70 66 69, Soren Hansen (Den) 68 70 67, Mark Foster 70 67 68

206 Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 65 68 73, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 68 68 70, Peter Fowler (Aus) 70 66 70, Peter Lawrie 68 70 68, Andrew McLardy (Rsa) 72 65 69

207 Alfredo Garcia (Spa) 69 69 69, Danny Willett 73 70 64, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 71 66 70

208 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 71 68 69, Henrik Nystrom (Swe) 68 69 71, Alexander Noren (Swe) 74 64 70, Richard Finch 72 69 67, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 71 69 68, Darren Clarke 72 69 67

209 Hennie Otto (Rsa) 72 66 71, Gareth Paddison (Nzl) 73 69 67, Michael Jonzon (Swe) 72 68 69, David Lynn 70 66 73, Pablo Martin (Spa) 72 70 67, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 70 69 70, Manuel Quiros (Spa) 69 70 70

210 Anthony Wall 71 66 73, Peter Hanson (Swe) 74 67 69, Iain Pyman 71 68 71, Eduardo De La Riva (Spa) 74 65 71, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 70 69 71, Miles Tunnicliff 72 68 70

211 Francis Valera (Spa) 71 68 72, Gary Clark 67 74 70, Per-Ulrik Johansson (Swe) 74 67 70, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 70 71 70, Julio Zapata (Arg) 72 71 68, Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 72 70 69

212 Peter Whiteford 68 72 72, Liam Bond 76 65 71, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 72 69 71, Paul McGinley 74 68 70, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 71 71 70

213 Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 72 71 70, Gary Lockerbie 72 71 70, Robert Rock 69 71 73, Pedro Linhart (Spa) 70 70 73, Francois Delamontagne (Fra) 69 71 73, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 70 71 72, Steven O'Hara 68 70 75, Ian Garbutt 72 71 70

214 Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 73 69 72, Gary Orr 71 68 75, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 73 70 71, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 71 71 72, Simon Wakefield 73 70 71, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 73 70 71

215 Gary Boyd 75 68 72, Alan McLean 72 71 72, Santiago Luna (Spa) 74 69 72, Klas Eriksson (Swe) 71 69 75, Gregory Havret (Fra) 71 71 73

216 Stephen Gallacher 70 69 77, Sion Bebb 75 67 74, Peter Baker 69 74 73

217 Garry Houston 75 68 74, Colin Montgomerie 70 73 74, Florian Praegant (Aut) 70 72 75, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 74 69 74

218 Matthew Millar (Aus) 70 72 76, Carl Suneson (Spa) 76 67 75, Jose Manuel Carriles (Spa) 70 72 76

219 Jordi Garcia (Spa) 66 76 77

220 Jan Are Larsen (Nor) 73 70 77, Jamie Donaldson 72 70 78