October 11, 2025 – Marco Penge will take a four-stroke lead into the final round of the Open de España presented by Madrid 2025 after a fabulous seven under par 64 on day three.

The Englishman reached 16 under par after an incredible run of eight birdies in ten holes to lead by four over Switzerland’s Joel Girrbach at Real Club de Campo Villa de Madrid.

The 27-year-old started the day one ahead at the top of the leaderboard but experienced a rollercoaster start to his round, snapping his club playing a shot around a tree on the second hole before bogeying the third during a run of holes where at one point he trailed Girrbach by three.

Penge rejoined him at the top with four straight gains around the turn, and moved ahead on his own after another magical escape from the trees on the 13th. He hit his second shot into the rough just right of the green and brilliantly chipped in for birdie – with his lead immediately extended to two when Girrbach’s par putt stayed up.

The 2023 Road to Mallorca winner holed a 17-foot putt at the next and then got out of the trees yet again at the next to remarkably shave the hole with an eagle putt, instead settling for a seventh birdie in eight holes.

The two-time DP World Tour winner stretched his lead to five at the 16th before parring his final two, with Girrbach’s closing birdie reducing the deficit to four with 18 holes to play.

Girrbach’s third round 67 sees him sit second on his own, with American Patrick Reed and England’s Dan Brown sharing third on 11 under. Northern Irishman Tom McKibbin is fifth on ten under.

England’s John Parry had a day to remember thanks to his eight iron at the 17th hole bounding forward and rolling right into the cup to earn him not just a prized golfing memory but also a brand new BMW iX3 worth approximately 90,000 euros. Countryman Dan Bradbury also recorded an ace on day three, at the ninth hole.

Marco Penge: I took my driver back to the same loft I’d had it at all year, and today I felt like I had my speed and distance back. I just felt really confident. After about ten holes, I was just trying to go as low as I could.

Whatever the outcome, it’s going to be a great experience and great memories for me. I just love playing golf, love competing, and love playing in front of big crowds like we have here. I love to challenge myself, whether it goes well or not. Tomorrow’s just another day for me. I’m going to have fun with my caddie again. Tomorrow doesn’t define anything, it’s just another 18 holes of golf. Whatever happens, happens. It’s not the end of the world, I’ve still got my family at home and all that stuff, so I’m lucky. The result is the result.

Joel Girrbach: Another solid round, I would say. Had the two bogeys in there, but I mean, it can happen. Today was quite firm, the greens were tricky, but all in all, I’m happy with the round and we had a really good, fun time.

Yeah, it was a great battle with Marco as well. We kept it going and it was fun. I lost it a bit on the back nine, didn’t really have any more birdie chances until the last, but he played great too. I’ll try to do the same tomorrow, also on the front nine, and that would be lovely.

Dan Brown: It was a good round, a little bit scrappy at the start, and then kind of in the middle I played really nicely, didn’t do a lot wrong. The last two holes, though, a couple of misreads from about four feet, they just didn’t really do what I expected going past the hole, which was a bit frustrating. But all in all, a decent day.

I’m not going to put any pressure on myself to do anything special tomorrow. It’s just a case of seeing what I’ve got and going from there.

Patrick Reed: I love it. I love the golf course, I love the event, I love the turnout, especially how many kids come out. It’s awesome to see how many kids are out here watching golf. That’s what it’s all about, growing the game. The easiest way to do that is to get the kids involved and make them love it, and the number of kids that come out to this event is just amazing. I wish more events were like this.

You can tell golf has real influence around here, with all the kids coming out, playing, watching. After every round you’ve got no gloves left, no balls left, they take everything. But honestly, it’s awesome to see their enthusiasm.