Filippo Celli and Manuel Elvira will share the lead heading into the final round of the BMW PGA Championship but the duo have a high-class leaderboard breathing down their necks at Wentworth Club.
On a day when when a host of players shared the lead, the playing partners both birdied the last to get to 13 under and sit one ahead of Major champion JJ Spaun, Spaniard Alejandro del Rey and American Johannes Veerman.
Rory McIlroy finished birdie-eagle to get to 11 under alongside fellow Masters champion Adam Scott, American Davis Bryant, Chilean Joaquin Niemann and Norway’s Kristoffer Reitan.
Italian Celli and Spaniard Elvira carded rounds of 69 and 68 respectively and will go out together again on Sunday as they both look for a first DP World Tour win at the third Rolex Series event of the season.
Celli – the Silver Medallist at The 2022 Open Championship – is playing his second full season on Tour after coming through the Qualifying School in 2023 and regaining his card via the HotelPlanner Tour last year.
Celli started with a bogey and then made ten pars in a row before taking advantage of the par-five 12th.
A long putt on the next and a smart approach into the 16th were then followed by an outrageous piece of luck on the last as his second bounced off the wood around the water and went into the bunker from where he got up and down.
Elvira – brother of three-time DP World Tour winner Nacho – is playing his third season on Tour since graduating from the HotelPlanner Tour in 2023 and has three top tens in 2026.
Elvira sandwiched a tee shot to 13 feet at the tenth with birdies at the par five fourth and 12th and while he dropped a shot on the 14th, he picked it straight back up from five feet on the next and left himself a tap-in at the last.
Reitan was the first player to make a move, although it did not look like anything spectacular was on the cards as he turned in 34, albeit with four birdies. Two more were added on the tenth and 11th and he then finished with another five, breaking the record for a round over the West Course with 11 in a 64.
That left him one shot behind overnight leader Ryan Gerard but with the American dropping four shots on the front nine en route to a 75, two more rounds of 64 saw him replaced at the summit.
First it was Del Rey, who picked up shots on the fourth, fifth and seventh to turn in 32 and added gains on the tenth, 11th, 13th, 14th and last in a bogey-free effort.
But he was alone at the top for just a matter of moments as in the group behind, Veerman was completing a blemish-free round of his own.
After birdies at the second and third, he eagled the fourth from 22 feet and then broke a run of eight pars with a birdie on the 13th. Another eagle from 13 feet on the 17th had him within one and a gain on the last put him in a share.
American Spaun carded a 68 with five birdies and a single bogey while McIlroy signed for a 69, Bryant and Niemann recorded rounds of 67 and Scott went round in 71.
There were 25 players within five shots of the lead including Major champions Ryan Fox, Aaron Rai and Matt Fitzpatrick.
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