England’s Marco Penge opened up a four-shot lead to take into the final round of the Open de Espana, despite an early mishap on Saturday.

Penge broke his pitching wedge playing out of the trees at the second hole but, after impressively saving par there and playing the first six holes in one over par, he produced an astonishing run of scoring.

Eight birdies in 10 holes, including putts of 24, 20, 17 and 16 feet and a chip-in at the 12th, left Penge to sign for a 64 that took him to 16 under par at Club de Campo.

Playing partner Joel Girrbach was his nearest challenger at a distant 12 under.

Penge’s fellow Englishman Dan Brown, on his 31st birthday, was 11 under alongside American Ryder Cup veteran Patrick Reed, with Northern Ireland’s Tom McKibbin 10 under.

Penge said: “I was just trying to go as low as I could. I’ve learnt in the past that when you’re leading, you can’t just…not play steady, that’s not the right word, but you’ve got to be going forward because everyone else will catch you up.

“It was nice to prove to myself that I can do it.”

Rahm’s hopes of record title fading fast

Home favourite Jon Rahm saw his hopes of landing a record fourth title all but disappear.

Rahm will need a massive turnaround on Sunday after a 71 that included a double bogey.

The Ryder Cup winner is 12 shots back and tied for 28th as he attempts to surpass Seve Ballesteros as the tournament’s most successful golfer since the creation of the European Tour in 1972.

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