Shane Lowry made five birdies in his last ten holes but a three-under 68 still left him nine shots behind leader Angel Hidalgo heading into the final round of the acciona Open de España in Madrid.

The Offaly man made three bogeys and a birdie in his first six holes and while his hot finish saw him jump to 14th on four-under, he needs a miracle to challenge for his first individual title since the 2022 BMW PGA.

Bidding to go wire-to-wire in his quest for his maiden DP World Tour victory, Hidalgo followed rounds of 65 and 67 with a three-under 68 to lead on 13-under.

But his four-shot overnight lead was reduced to just two strokes over hot favourite Jon Rahm, who is bidding to overtake Seve Ballesteros, who won the title three times, by winning for the fourth time in six years.

Rahm fired a bogey-free, six-under 65 to make it an all-Spanish threeball in the final group on Sunday with fellow LIV Golf star David Puig, who trailed Hidalgo by two after also shooting six-under on moving day.

"The match will be really good," Hidalgo said. "I know really good David. I played with him when I was young. Yeah, with Jon, what can I say? He's the GOAT in this tournament.

"I don't know how many times he won, like three times or four times. Yeah, pretty happy. I can't wait to arrive to the first tee tomorrow."

Rahm only arrived at the Club de Campo on the eve of the tournament following the birth of his daughter on Monday and didn't play a practice round.

But he's "very excited" about Sunday’s final round Spanish showdown and his first competitive round with his countrymen.

"He's a very high-quality player and I'm excited to see Angel, as well," Rahm said of Puig. "He's been playing really good the last few years.

"And hopefully I can end up with the win but it's definitely going to be a Sunday atmosphere-wise that they haven't experienced yet. There's going to be a lot of people watching, and it's going to be a lot of fun."

In Switzerland, France's Benjamin Hébert remains in pole position in the weather-reduced Swiss Challenge after the third day of play was washed out at Golf Saint Apollinaire.

After a five-hour weather delay on the opening day, day three was washed out without a ball being hit and the tournament officially reduced to 36 holes.

Hébert will enter the final day in front on six under par, having played four holes of his second round, one shot clear of Englishman Ben Stow, who is yet to begin his second.

Portmarnock's Conor Purcell was three-over after five holes and tied for 15th on one-under with Cormac Sharvin and Gary Hurley, who completed their second rounds on Friday.

Meanwhile, Galway's Liam Nolan sensationally qualified for the Second Stage of the DP World Tour Qualifying School when he eagled the 17th and birdied the 18th to make it on the qualifying mark at Horsens Golfklub in Denmark.

The Bearna native (24) was tied for the lead heading into the third and final round of the weather-reduced First Stage qualifier in Jutland.

But after mixing one birdie with five bogeys, a double-bogey and a triple bogey in his first 15 holes to crash to nine over for the day, three shots outside the top 18 and ties who qualified, he produced a miraculous finish.

An eagle two at the 296-yard 17th got him to within a shot of the qualifying mark before he made a clutch birdie four at the last for a six-over 76 to make it on the limit alongside amateurs Max Kennedy from Royal Dublin and Athenry's David Kitt.

Kilkenny's Mark Power shot a three-under 67 to qualify in eighth place on seven-under as Kennedy shot 73 and Kitt a gutsy 66 to tie with Nolan on the two-under limit.

Another Galway man, Ronan Mullarney, was the only Irish qualifier from the First Stage Qualifier at Golf de Léry Poses in France.

The top 21 and ties progressed to next month's Second Stage in Spain, but while Mullarney's level par 72 saw him make it with nothing to spare, Naas' Conor O'Rourke missed out by one stroke after also shooting 72.

In the Lacoste Ladies Open de France on the Ladies European Tour, Castlewarden's Lauren Walsh closed with a one-under 70 to tie for 12th (€7,500) on two-under at Golf Barriere in Deauville.

She finished five shots outside a playoff that saw Swiss rookie Chiara Tamburlini beat Australia's Kirsten Rudgeley with a birdie at the first playoff hole to claim her second LET title this season.

Order of Merit leader Tamburlini shot a 71 to Rudgeley's 67, leaving them tied on seven under, one ahead of Belgium's Manon De Roey.

Douglas' Sara Byrne shot a level par 71 to tie for 28th (€4,143) on one-over in just her second LET start as a professional.