Mark McNulty of Zimbabwe fired 4-under-par 67 to take a four-stroke lead over a group of six players following Saturday's third round of the Volvo Masters.
McNulty had a 208 total after three trips around the 6,819-yard Valderrama course."This course always treats the players with no respect, but I had a good day," McNulty said. "When I'm playing decent, I only tend to concentrate on the job ahead and forget the mistakes."
Not quite as steady was England's Paul Curry, whose 5-under-par on Friday put him into the lead. Curry went to a 10-over-par 81 on Saturday and dropped 11 strokes off the pace.
Stephen Ames of Trinidad and Tobago slipped from one to seven strokes back with a 77.
Among those tied for second at 212 were Scotland's Andrew Oldcorn, who shot a 72 in the third round, New Zealand's Frank Nobilo who shot 70, and Argentina's Jose Coceres, who had a 71.
Also at 212 were Australia's Wayne Riley with a 69, Scotland's Gary Orr with a 70 and England's Lee Westwood, who shot a 70.