Jon Rahm climbs to top of leaderboard at Open de Espana, Min Woo Lee gives chase at Club de Campo in Madrid

Jon Rahm delighted the home fans at the Open de Espana by climbing to the top of the leaderboard after round three.

The world No. 6 had the expectation of the home fans, and the knowledge he was the hot favourite entering the week at Club de Campo.

He had a mixed opening 36 holes, and powered forward on moving day to take a one-shot lead into the final round.

He was again not 100 percent content with his swing on Saturday, but the big difference was he cut out the costly bogeys.

And a bogey-free round of 65 took him to the top of the leaderboard on 16-under, and within 18 holes of emulating Seve Ballesteros and winning his home open for a third time.

“I am feeling good,” Rahm said. “I wish most of my rounds could be as organised as this one.

“I don’t feel like I did anything special besides the up and down on 17.

“I just played consistent golf and kept the ball in play. The few times I missed the tee shot I was never really out of it. I had a shot to the green and was able to pull it off every time.”

Third Round Leaderboard

• 1. Jon Rahm, 16-under
• 2. Min Woo Lee, 15-under
• T3. Louis De Jaeger, 13-under
• T3. Marc Warren, 13-under
• T3. Eddie Pepperell, 13-under
• T3. Matthieu Pavon, 13-under
• T3. Kiradech Aphibarnrat, 13-under
• T3. Stephen Gallacher, 13-under
• T9. Edoardo Molinari, 12-under
• T9. Zander Lombard, 12-under

Rahm sprayed the ball around on Friday, and he was a shade wayward on occasions on moving day.

But in contrast to Friday, he was able to scramble much better and two birdies on the front nine saw him climb the leaderboard.

The 11th was the low point on Friday, as a wild tee shot saw him chunter to his caddie in frustration about the state of his game.

Fast forward one day and he walked off the 11th green with a birdie after an excellent tee shot and confident putt.

He followed up with further birdies on 12 and 14 to ascend to the top of the leaderboard.

Routine pars followed at 15 and 16, and he showed his scrambling skills on 17 as after finding the bunker with his tee shot, he got up and down from the sand to keep his card clean.

All golf courses should have a driveable par four, and event organisers obliged on Saturday by moving the tee forward 40 yards on 18.

Driver is a strong suit of Rahm’s game, there are few weaknesses, and he arrowed a tee shot to within 15 feet of the pin.

The eagle putt came up a couple of inches short, but the simple birdie moved him to 16-under.

Min Woo Lee has had a bird’s eye view of Rahm this week, and he will spend the entire four days in his company after impressing with a round of 66. He knocked in an excellent birdie putt on the final hole to get to 15-under.

Eddie Pepperell continues to impress and he is in contention going into Sunday. A round of 67 moved him to 13-under, alongside a clutch of players including Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Stephen Gallacher, Louis De Jaeger, Marc Warren and Matthieu Pavon.