Defending champion Sergio Garcia hit three birdies in his first 11 holes to move four shots clear to the top of the leaderboard at the end of the second round of the rain-affected Valderrama Masters.
The tournament, hosted by Garcia’s foundation has been been affected by the weather and was reduced to 54 holes from the original 72 with the third round potentially taking place or starting on Monday. Play was suspended for a while on Saturday morning before resuming at 11:40am local time.
Garcia and Ashley Chesters were tied for first place after the first round on five under par, before Garcia hit a birdie at the 11th to overtake the Englishman.
The Spaniard carded a seven-under-par round of 64 – his lowest score at Valderrama while Chesters only managed one birdie and sits second on six under par.
Marc Warren joins Alvaro Quiros, Gregory Bourdy and Gonzalo Fdez-Castano in joint third, they have all completed their 18 holes and are all four under par.
Shane Lowry was back on the course for the first time since Thursday and the Offaly golfer carded a one-under 70 to get to three under and a tie of sixth position alongside Lee Westwood, whose son Sam carried his bag in a third round of 68.
Gavin Moynihan made his first European Tour cut after a level-par 71 left him on two over for the tournament. Returning to play 13 holes of his second round on Saturday, Moynihan made three bogeys and a birdie.
Pádraig Harrington made three bogeys over the front nine holes as he completed his second round, a three-over 74 leaving him a shot inside the cut on four over.
The Valderrama Masters is the last chance in the European Tour for the players to reach the top 116 in the Race to Dubai.
