English golfer Tyrrell Hatton preserved his two-stroke advantage entering the final round of LIV Golf Andalucia following a 4-under-par 67 performance on Saturday at Spain’s Valderrama course.
Hatton began strong on the demanding Real Club Valderrama layout, completing the opening nine holes at 3-under-par. After stumbling with a bogey on the par-4 10th, he quickly recovered with birdies on holes 11 and 17.
The Englishman has excelled on holes 11 and 17 this week, playing them at 3-under-par combined, and now stands at 10-under-par through three rounds.
“Got off to a great start making birdie on (the first hole),” Hatton said. “I feel like the front nine generally played pretty solid, so I was happy with that. Then yeah, making bogey on 10 wasn’t ideal. But a good bounce-back making birdie on 11.”
Belgium’s Thomas Detry held onto second position after also carding a 4-under round during Saturday’s play.
Two Spanish golfers are positioned to challenge the leaders. Sergio Garcia fired a 3-under round and sits alone in third at 6-under for the tournament. Fellow countryman Jon Rahm trails by one more stroke in a tie for fourth after also posting 3-under on Saturday.
Garcia, who confirmed Saturday that Real Club Valderrama remains his preferred course worldwide, posted par on each front-nine hole before collecting birdies on the 10th, 11th, and 17th holes.
“Well, it’s going to take something good. Obviously Tyrrell is playing amazing, and he’s 10-under,” Garcia said when asked his chances of winning Sunday. “There’s a lot of great players there that they know what they’re doing. It’s just going to take a really good round.”
Garcia boasts four tournament wins at this weekend’s venue across various professional tours and has secured top-10 finishes in 17 of his 18 appearances at Real Club Valderrama.
“This course, obviously being my favorite and just being in front of the Spanish crowds and everything, makes it a little extra nice,” Garcia said of being in contention for the title.
Rahm navigated a challenging day featuring two bogeys and five birdies. He struggled on the course’s three par-5 holes, finishing them at 1-over for the round.
Dustin Johnson recorded the day’s best score with a 7-under performance, jumping into a fourth-place tie alongside Rahm, Mexico’s Abraham Ancer (67), and Australia’s Cam Smith (69). Spain’s third representative, David Puig (69), shared eighth place at 4-under with Bubba Watson (67).
Johnson, who began his round at the eighth hole, caught fire over his closing seven holes with a 5-under stretch that included an ace on the third hole.
“The previous two days I had hit really good shots (on No. 3), just did not turn out good,” Johnson said. “Today when this one was in the air, I was like, ‘This is as good a shot as I can hit; if it’s not good, I don’t know what to do.’ And it went in the hole. Obviously it was a bit lucky to go in, but I hit a really nice shot.”
