An early eagle on Saturday set Justin Walters up for his third round of five-under-par 67 as he moved into contention in the HotelPlanner Tour’s Challenge de Cadiz at Iberostar Real Golf Novo Sancti Petri in Cadiz, Spain.

Walters also made four birdies and a bogey as he moved to eight-under-par for the tournament through 54 holes in a share of fifth place. He was just three strokes off the lead held at 11-under-par by Victor Pastor of Spain after his third round of six-under-par 66.

There were three players on nine-under in a share of second, two strokes off Pastor’s lead, and Walters shared fifth with Spain’s Mario Galiano Aguila.

One stroke behind Walters in a share of seventh place was JC Ritchie, who, like Walters, also made an eagle on the second on his way to a third-round total of four-under-par 68. He also made a double-bogey and a bogey interspersed with his five birdies.

Pastor has proven his ability at this week’s venue when he finished runner-up to Jens Dantorp at the Challenge de Espana in 2022, but he is hoping to go one better this time around.

“It would be very special to win this event,” he said. “I only live two hours from here and I used to come here on holiday when I was younger. It’s a special venue for me and I came very close to winning here in 2022.

“I was leading after three rounds in 2022, and I gave it my best shot in the final round but unfortunately, I just came up short on that occasion. I’m looking forward to tomorrow and hopefully I can win my first event on this tour.”