Nacho Elvira (-18) has put the second victory of his career within reach at the Soudal Open. The Spanish golfer has made 68 strokes in the third round and has reinforced his solo lead. He will start this Sunday with a four-stroke lead over Ross Fisher, Joe Dean, Romain Langasque and Niklas Norgaard (-14). It’s a solid lead, as solid as the golf he has displayed in the first three rounds at the Rinkven International Golf Club in Antwerp. However, nobody needs to tell the Cantabrian that the job is not yet complete.
Interestingly, in his only victory on the DP World Tour, achieved in Wales in July 2021, Nacho’s situation before the Sunday round was quite similar. He was ahead from start to finish and built a wide lead before the last 18 holes, even greater than he has now in Belgium. Specifically, he started with a six-stroke lead over, curiously, four other players. However, he ended up winning the tournament in a playoff against South African Justin Harding. That’s why we say that nobody needs to tell Nacho that there are still 18 holes ahead and the job needs to be finished.
It could be said that Elvira’s round today has had two distinct parts. In the first eleven holes, he has given another masterful golf lesson, one more, very similar to Thursday and Friday. From tee to green he has been impeccable and on the greens he has been brilliant and decisive. His start of the round has been devastating. On holes 1 and 2 he made birdie by sinking putts of just over a meter. On the 4th he made one more from less than four and on the 5th he missed a great option of less than a meter. It was an almost supernatural exhibition.
From there, he continued to play very well. He made the recovery of the day on hole 6, one that has choked him every round, although he has always solved it with par, and signed another birdie on the 8th. He could even have added some more to his account, with good options on the 7th or 10th.
However, from hole 12 something went off. He missed the tee shot on this par 3 and then came some mistakes, like on the second shot of the 13th or the tee shots on the 16th, 17th and 18th. Despite everything, he held up very well, in this sequence where the game was not so brilliant he pulled off a magnificent par balance, with two birdies and two bogeys. Sensational. He is in a great position to win, although he will still need a good fourth round.
Seeing his great level of play, the only real concern should be his right wrist. After the tee shot on the 18th, his ball, to the right, landed right behind a root. Nacho, who received support at the end of his round from his brother Manu and his coach Alfredo Gutiérrez, hit it with everything, looking for a low and opening ball, it was a great shot, but he complained a bit about his wrist in the following minutes. Really, from his gestures, it doesn’t seem like anything important, but we will see better when the joint gets cold. Then we will know if there is discomfort. Hopefully not.
Elvira leads the festival of Spanish golf this Saturday. The news is good and very numerous. Sebastián García Rodríguez (-12) has moved into seventh position with a card today of 67 strokes. Brave fight from the Madrid golfer, who has made seven birdies and three bogeys with a high level on the greens. Very good day also for Pablo Larrazábal (-10), who did not miss the opportunity to shine with 66 strokes in front of captain Luke Donald, as well as Ángel Hidalgo (-9) or Adrián Otaegui (-8), all of them among the top 30 of the tournament. Even, Santi Tarrio (-7) has a chance on Sunday to greatly improve his ranking. Further back are Manu Elvira (-4) and Rafa Cabrera Bello (-3).
