Open de Espana: Matthieu Pavon maintains his advantage as Jon Rahm struggles

Frenchman Pavon, who finished second behind Rahm at this event last season, hit four birdies and survived a bogey on the 17th to score a three-under 68 for a total of 131.

"It looks like it's really a place that suits my game," Pavon said. "Lots of memories from last year, so I really feel comfortable on the course. I'm very pleased with the result today."

The 38-year-old Pavon stayed one in front of Dutchman Wil Beseling who was joined in second place by Shubhankar Sharma, who fired seven birdies and two bogeys in his five-under round of 66.

Nathan Kimsey’s three-under 68 makes him the best-placed English player in sixth place, three strokes off the lead.

But Rahm’s hopes of extending a run that has seen him win his home open in four of the last five years were effectively ended by a one-over 72, leaving him on three-under for the tournament and tied in 45th place.

"I'm still going for the win," Rahm said.

"I'm eight behind, after not playing well, so I can recover easily, especially if the weather gets worse and the course becomes a bit more difficult. What happened to me today can happen to anyone, so if I play well tomorrow and get close to 10 under, I will have a good chance on Sunday."

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