Day 2
Day 1

October 10th 2009, Madrid, Spain: Former English amateur champion Ross McGowan is in sight of his first European Tour title after an amazing third round 60 at the Madrid Masters.

The 27 year old from Surrey is a massive seven shots clear with 18 holes to go at Centro Nacional de Golf.

Ross McGowan

McGowan had two eagles and ten birdies - and also two bogeys - to establish easily the biggest 54 hole lead of the year on The European Tour - the previous biggest was four strokes.

Playing alongside him World Number Eight Sergio Garcia, joint halfway leader with Scot David Drysdale, bogeyed four of the last seven holes to drop to ninth place and ten behind.

Drysdale, meanwhile, managed a 69 to leave England's Danny Willett and Frenchman Michael Lorenzo-Vera in joint second place.

It was the second 60 on The European Tour in under a month, but unlike the one by Rafael Cabrera-Bello to win the Austrian Golf Open, McGowan's will not go down in the record books as placing was allowed on the fairways.

Already in eighth place in The Ryder Cup points race, McGowan said: "I can't believe it really. I just played my own game and didn't think about the score until I hit the second shot to the 18th.

"Then I thought 'Hang on - that was for 59'."

He hit it 18 feet past the flag and made the putt for his second eagle. The World Number 177 stands 24 under par and The European Tour record for 72 holes is Ernie Els's 29 under at the Johnnie Walker Classic in Australia six years ago.

McGowan, third in Switzerland at the start of last month and sixth in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland last Monday, has now broken 70 in ten of his last 11 rounds.

"I don't feel like I'm going to miss a shot unless I'm in the rough or get a silly lie," he added.

Garcia began with back-to-back birdies and turned in 32, although that still left him one behind as McGowan covered the front nine in 30. But Garcia, yet to win this year, bogeyed the 12th, 14th, 16th and 17th.

Drysdale took over as the closest challenger, but his hopes of a maiden European Tour win faded when he also dropped shots on the 16th and 17th while McGowan played the last four in five under.

Willett fired a 66 to move up from sixth, while Lorenzo-Vera's 64 took him alongside him in second spot from tenth - and could save his European Tour card. He is 133rd on The Race to Dubai and needs to climb into the top 115.

McGowan's 24 under was one better than The European Tour all-time record, although preferred lies were in operation for all three rounds and will be again on the last day.